PE-backed Mercer Advisors buys Wrenn

Mercer Advisors, which is backed by Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital, has acquired Raleigh, North Carolina-based Wrenn Financial Strategies Inc, a wealth management firm. No financial terms were disclosed.

PRESS RELEASE

DENVER, January 13, 2022 – Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. (“Mercer Advisors”), a full-service wealth management firm and national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA), today announced the acquisition of Wrenn Financial Strategies, Inc., (“Wrenn”), a respected wealth management firm located in Raleigh, North Carolina. Wrenn serves over 150 clients with assets under management (AUM) of approximately $238 million. Wrenn was founded by Maxie Edward Wrenn, Jr. (“Max”), President and CFP®, and Janice Wrenn (“Janice”), Vice President and CFP®, in 1988. Wrenn offers comprehensive financial planning and portfolio management to high-net-worth individuals, families, and corporate clientele. Wrenn’s team will be joining Mercer Advisors.

Wrenn is focused on providing leading financial planning and investment management services to its clients using an ensemble team approach among Wrenn’s three CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professionals and other team members. Wrenn is committed to serving their clients with excellence by providing robust financial advice to help ensure their clients’ needs are met with the highest quality care and service.

Commenting on the transaction, Co-Founder Max Wrenn stated: “Janice and I are at that stage in our careers where business succession, or transition planning, was a top-of-mind awareness. We have a fiduciary duty to our clients to make sure they are taken care of if, and when, we choose to retire. In that regard, we were looking to find a partner that we knwould take care of our clients and their families and descendants for years to come at the highest level. We did our due diligence, and Mercer Advisors was that partner for us.”

Co-Founder Janice Wrenn added: “We are dedicated to our clients and committed to serving comprehensively, all their financial needs. Likewise, we are committed to the success and development of our staff. In our meetings with Dave Barton, Vice Chairman who heads up mergers and acquisitions for Mercer Advisors, and who was also CEO for many years, we found they shared those same core values, and that was really important for us. We know our clients and staff will be well taken care of, not to mention having more services available to them like in-house estate and tax planning. Joining Mercer Advisors was a perfect fit for us, for our clients, and provides significant career development opportunities for our staff. We are thrilled to be joining the Mercer Advisors team.”

David Barton, Vice Chairman who led this transaction on behalf of Mercer Advisors added: “Max and Janice are salt of the earth people and have built strong relationships with their clients. They have also assembled a strong team which is very important to us. Our industry is starving for talent and we use M&A as an opportunity to acquire it. We are a fast-growing national RIA and the need to continually add high quality professionals to serve our growing client base is ever present. M&A is a great tool to add high quality, seasoned professionals, and simultaneously add new capabilities. Wrenn does just that. We couldn’t be happier to partner with Max and Janice and their wonderful team!”

Dave Welling, Chief Executive Officer of Mercer Advisors said, “Max and Janice are highly respected wealth management professionals and have built a great team focused on serving clients and engaging in their local community. We are also excited to expand our presence in the Carolinas through adding a key location in Raleigh.”

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.