Independent, fee-only registered investment advisor firms Savant Capital Management and The Monitor Group today finalized their strategic combination to officially become Savant Capital, LLC. The move creates a multi-state advisory firm with nearly $2.7 billion in assets that now ranks among the 50 largest RIAs in the industry.

Savant Capital, LLC will be headquartered in Rockford, Ill., with nine offices in Illinois, Wisconsin and Virginia. The combination of the two firms, the new company says, will allow each organization to use best practices that leverage their combined intellectual capital and expanded service offerings.

The new Savant combines The Monitor Group's strengths in estate planning and tax preparation with Savant Capital Management's divisions that serve a range of clients from very high-net-worth individuals to people with as little as $50,000 in assets, along with its institutional side that provides advisory services to 401(k) and company retirement plans, endowments and foundations, as well as a private trust company.

The board of managers for Savant Capital, LLC, consists of Thomas Muldowney, chairman and principal; Brent Brodeski, CEO and principal; Richard Bennett, COO and principal; and Glenn Kautt, vice chairman and principal (previously president and chairman of The Monitor Group). Prior to the combination, Muldowney, Brodeski and Bennett were each principals at Savant Capital Management.

"This is an exciting day as we have created one dynamic, national firm that will provide additional services and efficiencies to our clients for many generations to come," Muldowney said in a statement.