Wealth Enhancement, Apollon secure major deals in busy M&A week: Advisor Moves

December 11, 2025 3:19 PM

It's been a big week for acquisitions.

Wealth Enhancement, Apollon, Creative Planning, MAI Capital Management and Procyon all announced big M&A deals. Also, Independent Financial Partners picked up a team from Commonwealth Financial Network and NewEdge Capital named a new CEO. Read on for details.

CenterBridge Financial Group has joined Independent Financial Partners. Pictured from left to right are Partner Jeff McCabe, Director of Development John Miller, Partner Andy Burr and Office Manager Richelle Pasceri.

Independent Financial Partners

Independent Financial Partners secures $700M Commonwealth team

The independent broker-dealer Independent Financial Partners is pushing further into upstate New York with an advisory group pulled from its industry rival Commonwealth Financial Network.

CenterBridge Planning Group is among a sizable number of teams pulled from Commonwealth amid its ongoing incorporation into LPL Financial, which acquired its former industry rival in August. CenterBridge has offices in Buffalo and Syracuse, New York, and $700 million in assets under management.

The team is led by the financial advisors Jeff McCabe, Pat Mahardy, Joe Lazzaro, Brent Schleicher and Andy Burr. The team said in a statement that they were attracted to Independent Financial Partners because it would allow them to continue holding client assets for safekeeping at various third-party custodians.

"That level of flexibility is essential to serving clients the way we believe is best," according to the statement.

Before its purchase by LPL, Commonwealth had held clients' assets in Fidelity Investments' National Financial Services custody business. But as part of the acquisition, those assets are expected to move over to LPL. LPL executives have said their firm's incorporation of Commonwealth will be complete by the fourth quarter of 2026.

LPL has set a goal of retaining at least 90% of the $285 billion that Commonwealth had under management when the purchase was announced. LPL executives have said they are on course to hit that target, but the firm has nonetheless witnessed a steady stream of departures in recent months.

CenterBridge Planning Group's specialties range from financial, retirement and estate planning to investment management, insurance and business and tax planning. The main team members all joined Commonwealth in the mid-2010s after starting their careers at Axa Advisors, which changed its name to Equitable Advisors in 2020.

Raymond James takes on Bank Midwest’s $692M investment business

Raymond James' institutional division has been chosen to provide various services to the wealth management arm of Bank Midwest, a regional firm with offices in Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota.

Bank Midwest's wealth unit, now named Midwest Wealth Management, has roughly $692 million in client assets and six financial advisors working out of Spirit Lake, Iowa. The group will rename itself Midwest Wealth Group after joining Raymond James' financial institution division.

That division was founded in 1987 to provide the wealth management arms of banks and credit unions with various brokerage and advisory services. It provides affiliated firms with various investment opportunities and services, investment banking, help with public financing, research services and other resources.

"With a comprehensive suite of technology, resources and dedicated support built for bank investment programs, advisors can devote more time to clients and operate with greater efficiency — strengthening relationships and fueling long-term growth," Jon DeMayo, vice president of business development in the financial institutions division, said in a statement.

Wealth Enhancement scoops up $2.2B firm

The large serial acquirer Wealth Enhancement is moving further into Ohio with its purchase of Cincinnati-based hybrid advisory firm L.M. Kohn.

L.M. Kohn has a wide reach, with other offices in Georgia, Iowa and Michigan. It had $2.2 billion in client assets and 23 employees at the time of its purchase, the terms of which weren't disclosed.

Wealth Enhancement received financial backing from the private equity firms TA Associates and Onex Corporation. The addition of L.M. Kohn pushes its asset tally to $131 billion.

Apollon acquires Motley Fool’s $1.5 B AUM wealth arm

The South Carolina-based RIA Apollon Wealth Management, will pick up the wealth management division of the popular investment-advice service The Motley Fool in a deal to close next year.

Motley Fool Wealth Management now has roughly $1.5 billion in client assets and employs eight financial advisors and 15 other professionals, according to its online profile. It was founded in 2014 with the goal of serving retail investors and research clients who use The Motley Fool's services. Neither The Motley Fool nor its subsidiary Motley Fool Asset Management is involved in Apollon's acquisition.

Apollon currently oversees more than $8.65 billion in assets under management. Its purchase of Motley Fool Wealth Management is planned to close in the first quarter of 2026.

This deal follows a recent separate transaction involving the original co-founders of Motley Fool Wealth Management, Bryan Hinmon and Nick Crow. Earlier this year, the two sold their separate RIA, Hoot Wealth, to the wealth management aggregator Maridea Wealth Management.

Creative Planning acquires $900M RIA

The RIA aggregator Creative Planning is adding to its presence in Pennsylvania with the acquisition of a 19-person advisory team.

The advisory firm Marshall Financial Group is joining Creative Planning in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Marshall Financial Group has roughly $900 million in client assets under management. The terms of its purchase weren't disclosed.

Marshall Financial Planning was founded in 1981 by the financial advisor Bill Marshall and became completely owned by its employees in 2017. It's now led by president and senior wealth advisor Paula Nangle, who came to the firm from Prometheus Capital Management in 2007.

Creative Planning has sold minority stakes in itself to the private equity firms TPG Capital and General Atlantic and is one of many large RIA aggregators tapping private financing to pay for its acquisitions. It and its affiliates, including United Capital Financial Advisors, had roughly $390 billion under management and advisement in the U.S. and nearly 90 other countries by the end of September.

Creative Planning announced plans in October to buy the retirement-planning specialist SageView Advisory Group in a deal set to boost its asset tally to $640 billion.

MAI Capital adds fourth firm in Maryland this year

Rick Buoncore is the managing director of MAI Capital Management.

MAI Capital Management has been busy buying up firms in Maryland this year, announcing this week its fourth acquisition in that state.

Lowe Wealth Advisors, an RIA with $527 million in assets and 470 client households, is joining MAI Capital in Columbia, Maryland. The terms of the acquisition, which closed on Dec. 5, were not disclosed.

Lowe Wealth Advisors was founded in 1980 and was one of the first firms to offer financial planning in return for easily calculated fees. It's now run by co-founder Harold Lowe and his son, Greg Lowe. The firm specializes in working with high net worth clients and families, including business owners, entertainers and foundation and endowment trustees and medical professionals.

Lowe Wealth Advisors will now adopt the MAI Capital brand, and all nine members of its team will join MAI. Harold and Greg Lowe will both take on the title of senior managing director.

The deal marks Cleveland-based MAI Capital Management's 19th acquisition since the start of 2024. MAI's other recent purchases in Maryland include Court Place Advisors, an RIA with $366 million under management in Ellicott City, Maryland. MAI now has five practices in the state for a total of 36 offices and more than 650 employees in the U.S. It has more than $65 billion in assets under management.

Dynasty-backed Procyon buys up $500M AUM firm

The large RIA Procyon is pushing its assets under management to nearly $9 billion with its purchase of a wealth management firm with offices in Michigan and Texas.

OLV Investment Group has its headquarters in Flint, Michigan, and roughly $500 million in client assets. The terms of its purchase weren't disclosed.

The firm was founded in 2021 by a team of advisors previously affiliated with AE Financial Services, an independent broker-dealer in Topeka, Kansas. Its addition brings Procyon's total assets under management to nearly $9 billion and its headcount to nearly 80.

Procyon was founded in 2017 by advisors who had left UBS and is part of Dynasty Financial Partners' large network of RIAs receiving help with technology, back-office support and other needs in return for a fee. In April, Procyon received a minority investment from Constellation Wealth Capital, a private equity firm founded in 2023 by the former Emigrant Partners CEO Karl Heckenberg.

NewEdge Capital names former Morgan Stanley, Iconiq exec as CEO

James Jesse has been named the new CEO of NewEdge Capital.

The large wealth manager NewEdge Capital Group has brought on the former Morgan Stanley and Iconiq executive James Jesse to be its next CEO.

NewEdge Capital, the parent company of NewEdge Advisors and NewEdge Securities, said in a statement that the appointment comes at a "pivotal moment" when the firm is intent on growth. Jesse will join NewEdge founders and managing partners Rob Sechan and Alex Goss on the firm's board of directors.

Before joining NewEdge, Jesse spent seven years in executive positions at Iconiq, a wealth and investment management firm founded in 2011 in San Francisco. His roles at Iconiq included chairman of its executive and management committee and president of its investment management and family office business, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Before Iconiq, Jesse spent nearly 17 years at Morgan Stanley, holding the titles of chief operating officer of international wealth management, chief operating officer of private wealth management and global head of international wealth management.

NewEdge Capital Group has its headquarters in New Orleans and is owned by EdgeCo Holdings, a financial services firm that receives backing from the private equity outfits Parthenon Capital and Waterfall Asset Management.