Genstar-backed Mercer Advisors buys Cordasco Financial Network

Mercer Global Advisors Inc, which is backed by Genstar Capital, has acquired Naples, Florida-based Cordasco Financial Network Inc, a wealth management firm. No financial terms were disclosed. Advisor Growth Strategies represented CFN in this transaction.

PRESS RELEASE

DENVER, January 11, 2022 – Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. (“Mercer Advisors”), a full-service wealth management firm and national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA), today announced the acquisition of Cordasco Financial Network, Inc. (“CFN”), a respected wealth management firm headquartered in Naples, Florida. CFN serves over 400 clients with assets under management (AUM) of approximately $510 million. CFN was founded by Steve Cordasco, CEO, in 2011. CFN offers comprehensive financial planning and portfolio management to high-net-worth individuals, families, and corporate clientele. CFN’s team will be joining Mercer Advisors.

With a staff of retirement specialists, CPAs, insurance consultants and more, CFN’s team combines expertise in a variety of fields to design and implement customized solutions that help guide their clients towards economic success. CFN’s recommendations are custom tailored to accommodate their clients’ dreams and financial goals.

Commenting on the transaction, Founder Steve Cordasco stated: “I’ve built an RIA firm that delivers ‘tax-centric’ financial planning advice and employs multiple CPAs to make sure client tax consequence is considered and optimized as part of their overall financial planning experience. Contextually, we focus on where life meets wealth. In this regard, we provide multidisciplinary advice to our clients through CFP® professionals working hand-in-hand with our CPAs to provide holistic advice to our clientele. Our business model is successful, we are growing fast, but we lack the scale and leverage necessary to accommodate our growth with back-office responsibilities gobbling up valuable time and resources. I saw David Barton, Mercer Advisors Vice Chairman, speak at an industry conference and he coined the phrase, ‘You either need to build scale, or join it, if you want to remain competitive.’ I decided to join it rather than build it. I also loved Mercer Advisors’ family office business model with in-house estate planning, tax return preparation, and corporate trustee services, which was a perfect fit with our business model. Of course, being able to offload back-office responsibilities to Mercer Advisors will add significant excess capacity to me and my team freeing us up to service more clients, and win new ones.”

David Barton, Vice Chairman, who led this transaction on behalf of Mercer Advisors added: “Steve is an entrepreneur and great leader. He’s also very good at business development. Steve’s talents are rare and together we’ll leverage one another’s strengths to aggressively expand our Florida presence, including his satellite offices in the Northeast where we already have a heavy office footprint. Steve has also assembled a strong team which is very important to us. In our industry, you are only as good as your talent, and I believe our combined talent is superior. This transaction is a true win-win for all concerned.”

Dave Welling, Chief Executive Officer of Mercer Advisors said, “Steve has built a great business and strong team, and they are highly respected wealth management professionals. In all respects, this union adds to our culture, our expertise and our commitment to local markets. We look forward to working together as we strive to deliver outsized results for our clientele.”

Advisor Growth Strategies, LLC, a respected transaction advisor and consulting firm serving the registered investment advisor space, represented CFN in this transaction.

About Mercer Advisors
Established in 1985, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (“Mercer Advisors”) is a total wealth management firm that provides comprehensive, fee-based investment management, financial planning, family office services, retirement benefits and distribution planning, estate and tax planning, insurance solutions, and corporate trustee and trust administration services. Mercer Advisors Inc. is a parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (RIA), majority owned by both Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital, one of the largest Registered Investment Advisors and financial planning firms in the U.S. with over $37 billion in client assets. Headquartered in Denver, Mercer Advisors is privately held, has over 640 employees, and operates nationally through 60+ offices across the country. For more information, visit www.merceradvisors.com.

Data as of December 31, 2021. AUM includes affiliates and wholly owned subsidiaries.