Aspiriant, an independent wealth management firm based in Los Angeles, has acquired a boutique tax service firm in a move that continues the expansion of Aspiriant’s talent bank, the firm announced today.
Murray, Stok & Company, a tax service firm based in San Francisco, will become part of Aspiriant. The firm serves more than 400 clients. Its 17 tax professionals will join the tax professionals already at Aspiriant, and Chris Murray, managing partner at Murray, Stok, and Mike Stok will become partners and part owners at Aspiriant, an employee-owned firm. Tax services are part of Aspiriant’s Exclusive Family Office offering.
“Part of our business model has been to expand our talent base through mergers with other firms,” Rob Francais, CEO of Aspiriant, said in an interview. “We are happy this expands our presence in the (California) Bay Area.”
Many of the clients of the two firms, which had been working together for more than a decade, overlapped. The move was made to enhance the client experience and bolster the firm’s tax planning services, Aspiriant said.
“All of our mergers are designed to expand our talent base,” Francais said. “The firm will continue operating under that model in the future with an eye to enhancing other departments within Aspiriant.”
The deal follows Aspiriant’s recent acquisition of HearthStone Private Wealth Management, based in San Diego, which was announced in December. Previously the firm partnered with Stanford Investment Group in 2017 and The Glowacki Group in 2016. Aspiriant, which has offices across the United States, serves 1,800 clients with more than $15 billion in assets under management and advisement.
“We estimate that the majority of our clients seek tax planning services in addition to wealth management and financial planning, and our merger with Murray, Stok will support a seamless implementation of both new and existing offerings,” Francais said in a statement.