Alera Group Wealth Services has announced the acquisition of Virginia Beach-based The Ascent Group and its affiliated companies.
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
The deal is expected to add about $1.5bn in assets under management to Alera Group Wealth Services’ registered investment advisor (RIA) business and $1.3bn to Alera Group Retirement Plan Services.
The Ascent Group was established in 2021 by Jeff Silverman, Brian Walsh and Michael Moss.
The affiliated companies of the financial advisory firm include Virginia-based Summit Group and Pennsylvania-based Walsh & Nicholson Financial Group.
Summit Group is led by Silverman while Walsh & Nicholson Financial Group is led by Walsh.
The Ascent Group has 42 associates in total, including 15 financial advisors.
The company’s investment infrastructure includes a turnkey asset management program (TAMP), which was created in part to cut down overall customer expenses by bringing essential tasks in-house and removing vendors.
Silverman said: “We’re builders and what drew us to Alera Group is the opportunity to keep building a better system—faster, leaner, and more cost-effective for clients. Now we can do so on a larger scale, reaching a larger number of advisors and investors.”
With the additional RIA assets added, the assets under management of Alera Group Wealth Services, are expected to raise to nearly $6bn for a total of $7.5bn.
Alera Group is a US-based insurance and wealth services firm with annual revenue of over $1bn.
The company provides retirement plan services, employee benefits, property and casualty insurance, and wealth services solutions to clients across the country.
Alera Group executive vice president and retirement plan services practice leader Christian Mango said: “The Ascent Group fits our strategy of providing synergies and strategic benefits across our employee benefits and property & casualty verticals to provide more holistic solutions for clients that can truly bridge gaps for both plan sponsors and participants.”