You may have heard once or twice this year that financial advisors are being expected to offer more wealth-related services.
This week, industry behemoth Mercer Advisors put its money where the thought leadership is by making its first tax-only focused acquisition of an accounting firm based in Los Angeles. The tax professionals who join Mercer full-time will, like its financial advisors, have the opportunity to own equity, according to a report by Diana Britton.
In other deal news, Lido Advisors continued its acquisition run by dealing for a Warren, N.J.-based RIA managing $1.2 billion in assets, and hybrid broker/dealer &Partners has added four advisor practices in the opening weeks of November, including two from Wells Fargo and two from Commonwealth.
Finally, in the RIA lending space, First Financial Bancorp, the parent of Oak Street Funding, closed an acquisition for Westfield Bancorp. As part of the deal, Oak Street will merge with Westfield Bank’s RIA and insurance agency lending businesses.
OneDigital Acquires $401M Atlanta-based RIA
OneDigital Investment Advisors, OneDigital’s registered investment advisor division based in Overland Park, Kan., has acquired Signature Wealth Management Group of Atlanta. The deal is the RIA’s third in the South over the past six months as it seeks to expand in that region across retirement planning and wealth management.
SWMG was founded in 2017 by managing partners Scott Bishop and James Sims, who broke away from Raymond James to go independent, though it still custodies with the firm, according to data from ISS Market Intelligence. Their nine-member team, which oversees about 2,000 client accounts, will now work out of a new office OneDigital opened this year in Atlanta.
“By joining OneDigital, we gain access to advanced technology, a broader suite of financial services, and a national network of expertise—allowing us to deliver even greater value and support to our clients,” Bishop said in a statement.
In September, OneDigital announced that Stone Point Capital and CPP Investments were taking a majority stake in the RIA, with former stakeholder Onex Partners maintaining a minority investment.
A large portion of OneDigital’s assets are under non-discretionary, retirement-related advisement, according to its most recent Form ADV, which reports $91.2 billion in such assets, as well as another $50.6 billion in discretionary assets under management. OneDigital reports managing a total of $149 billion in assets as of June 30.
FP Transitions represented SWMG in the transaction.
Dakota Wealth Adds $455M Delaware-Based RIA
Dakota Wealth Management, an Emigrant-backed RIA based in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., has acquired Delaware-based Lokken Investment Group.
Jon Lokken founded the firm with Wells Fargo in 2008. It broke away from the wirehouse in 2016, according to BrokerCheck.
Lokken passed away in 2024, leaving the six-person team in the hands of CEO Peter Raimondi and Lokken’s wife, Karlyn. It also includes his daughter, Wealth Advisor Jessica Bimonte.
Karlyn Lokken was part of the sale process of the firm to secure a succession plan, according to an announcement.
“My top priorities were twofold: first, ensuring that the clients would continue to receive the same high level of service and care they had always known; and second, providing support and professional growth opportunities for the team he had established,” she said in a statement. “From our initial conversations, it was clear that Dakota would fulfill these needs. Our core values and philosophies align perfectly, which brings me great peace of mind knowing that Dakota shares my husband’s vision and principles.”
Jess Polito of Turkey Hill advised Lokken on the transaction.
The deal bolsters Dakota’s assets under management to $7.5 billion and establishes its 17th office. Lokken will take on the Dakota brand and continue to custody with Charles Schwab, which is one of Dakota’s custodial options, according to its Form ADV.
Dakota sold a minority stake to Emigrant Partners in 2023, after which it became active in the deal market. This is the first acquisition Dakota has announced in 2025.
Commonwealth Team Managing $700M Leaves for Arkadios Capital
Atlanta-based independent broker/dealer Arkadios Capital has won a former Commonwealth Financial Network team that had managed $700 million in client assets.
Monogram Wealth Partners is launching in Garden City, N.Y., with Arkadios after leaving LPL Financial’s Commonwealth. The new team will be led by founding partners Maurice Acriche and Louis Rusinowitz, along with Louis’s son and partner, Alex Rusinowitz.
The team will continue to work with individuals, families and business owners, along with maintaining its custodial relationship with Fidelity Investments’ National Financial Services.
“The move to Arkadios provides Monogram and its clients with great technology and direct access to all the decision makers while allowing the firm to maintain our custodial relationship with National Financial Services,” Acriche said in a statement.
Monogram is one of the firms that has cited maintaining its relationships with NFS as a factor in making the move after LPL acquired Commonwealth earlier this year. LPL has announced that it will fully transition Commonwealth advisors onto its self-clearing custodial platform by the end of 2026.
Arkadios has been active in recruiting Commonwealth advisors and has been among firms like Raymond James, Cetera, and Osaic, which have lured some over since the acquisition.
Arkadios has 75 offices in the U.S. and over $15 billion in assets under advisement.
LPL, for its part, has $2.3 trillion in advisory and brokerage assets.
RBC Wealth Adds North Dakota Team From Morgan Stanley
RBC Wealth Management, the wealth division of the Toronto-based bank, has poached a team in Fargo, N.D. that had managed more than $705 million in client assets for Morgan Stanley.
The team of three includes Managing Director and Financial Advisor Patrick McGrath, along with advisors Dylan Droegemueller and Shannon Nordick.
The team was drawn to RBC’s “resources supporting business owner clients, including employee stock ownership plans and cash management, as well as fixed income capabilities,” according to the announcement.
McGrath had worked in the mergers and acquisitions space before becoming an advisor, which is an experience he uses to advise business clients.
RBC has about 2,200 financial advisors in the U.S. managing over $640 billion in client assets, according to its most recent count.
