Los Angeles-based Abacus has merged with $130 million AUM RIA Robasciotti and Philipson (R&P).
R&P, based in Santa Monica, Calif. and led by co-founders Rachel Robasciotti and Maya Philipson, is framed as a RIA focused on social justice-aligned investing in an announcement from Abacus released yesterday. The firm’s leadership consists entirely of women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community.
“We are honored to welcome R&P’s values-aligned clients to Abacus,” said Brent Kessel, co-founder and CEO of Abacus, in released comments. “Since the day I was introduced to Rachel and her team, there has been tremendous synergy in how we approach the intersection of wealth and impact. This partnership enables us to leverage our platform and resources to further advance our clients’ social justice-driven investment strategies.”
Abacus says the acquisition will also help it expand planning services to clients with social justice values.
At Abacus, Robasciotti will become director of advocacy engagement, while Philipson will step into a strategic advisor role, and R&P will operate under the Abacus name. They will also continue to operate R&P’s sister firm, Adasina Social Capital, which was founded as “a bridge between financial markets and racial, gender, economic, and climate justice movements,” according to the announcement.
“At its very core, Abacus is a team of individuals who are deeply aligned with our values and this influence is apparent throughout their entire approach to investment management and financial planning,” said Philipson in the announcement. “This transition feels so natural to us and will be for our clients as well. We are thrilled to start this new chapter with Abacus.”
Key to that fit, perhaps, is Abacus’s own ESG focus: 100% its client portfolios are tailored to each client’s unique environmental, social responsibility and corporate governance values.
With the acquisition, Abacus is adding 115 additional households to its clientele – the RIA already serves $3.8 billion in client assets.