Alera Group Wealth Services, a division of the Deerfield, Ill.-based Alera Group, announced it has acquired Johnson Brunetti, a registered investment advisor (RIA) headquartered in Wethersfield, Conn.
Co-founded in 2003 by Joel Johnson and Nancy Brunetti—the latter exiting the joint venture at the end of 2011—Johnson Brunetti, also known as JB Capital, manages about $1.5 billion in client assets. The firm also oversees another $1.5 billion of annuity and insurance assets. The firm focuses on retirement and investment services to a mass-affluent audience, according to a press release.
“Johnson Brunetti has a distinctive model and compelling growth story,” Tina Hohman, Alera executive vice president and wealth services practice leader, said in a prepared statement. “We’re not looking for RIAs that fit some cookie-cutter model. We’re looking to grow by embracing a wide range of niches that complement each other.”
According to SmartAsset’s review of Johnson Brunetti, Johnson Brunetti is a wholly owned subsidiary of its parent company, Financial Retirement Solutions LLC, and has branch offices in Needham and Franklin, Mass.; Milford, Newtown, Old Saybrook, Avon and Chesire, Conn.; and Atlanta.
“Our education-based model has helped us serve thousands of clients, and now as part of Alera Group Wealth Services we anticipate reaching many more, both in our current footprint and elsewhere,” financial advisor and managing partner/CEO Joel Johnson said a statement.
He also said that his firm’s new partnership with Alera would help scale his practice in the coming years.
“We anticipate leveraging Alera Group’s expertise in mergers and acquisitions, in addition to back-office, technology and centralized investment services,” Johnson said.
Alan Levitz, CEO of Alera Group, cited Johnson’s leadership as a key contributory factor to the firm’s growth.
“Joel Johnson has led Johnson Brunetti to tremendous success since the firm’s founding, and we are pleased that growth will now continue under the Alera Group Wealth Services umbrella,” he said in a prepared statement.
Park Sutton Advisors served as the sole financial advisor to Johnson Brunetti throughout the transaction. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.