Connecticut Wealth Management is now the largest independent planning firm in the Hartford area after acquiring a rival with $120 million in assets under management.
The acquisition brings total AUM at Connecticut Wealth to $400 million and adds four new employees from Filomeno Wealth Management to the firm -- three of them accounting professionals.
In some ways its addition by subtraction of a competitor, Connecticut Wealth CEO Kevin Leahy says. More importantly, its the addition of four extremely talented people.
ROOTS IN ACCOUNTING
Joining Connecticut Wealth are financial advisors and CPAs Kathleen Christensen, Elizabeth DeBassio and Michael Tedone, as well as Kimberly Lockwood, who served as investment group administrator at Filomeno. Tedone, a principal and shareholder at Filomeno, has been providing wealth management and tax planning services to clients for 30 years, according to a press release.
Both firms have roots in the accounting world, according to Leahy. Connecticut Wealth was founded two and a half years ago when Leahy and his partners bought out the wealth management arm of accounting firm Kostin Ruffkess & Co, which was later acquired by a larger company, Leahy says.
With the growth in size, Connecticut Wealth will be better positioned strategically to receive referrals from local estate planning attorneys and other professionals, Leahy says. If there was any worries that maybe we were too small, hopefully ... [referring professionals] will see us as a reasonably large firm that is not going away, he says.
With the added staff, the firms client-to-planner ratio is now 30-to-one, according to a press release.
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