Mercer Global Advisors Inc. today announced that it has acquired Harrison & Company Wealth Management LLC, a Roanoke, Va.-based wealth management firm with about $150 million in assets under management.
It is the second acquisition in as many days for the Denver-based national registered investment advisor that is majority owned by both Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital. On Wednesday, Mercer Advisor announced that it acquired Starks Financial Group, Inc., a $250 million AUM financial planning and wealth management firm in Asheville, N.C.
Harrison & Company Wealth Management (HCO) was founded in 2009 by Bruce Harrison, senior partner, after spending six years at Merrill Lynch, where he began his career, according to the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure database. The HCO team also will join Mercer Advisors.
Harrison said in a statement that he and his partner, Ian A. Hamre, wanted to expand their service offering “and also offload onerous, time-consuming responsibilities to free us up to do what we do best, servicing our clients at the highest level and winning new ones."
He said after meeting with David Barton, Mercer Advisors’ vice chairman and head of M&A, they determined that the partnership was a perfect fit for their team and clients. “We loved the in-house family office services they offer like estate planning, tax return preparation, corporate trustee services, etc., all while taking over our back-office duties and creating excess capacity for us,” he said.
Burton noted Harrison and Hamre were looking to build scale to create necessary leverage. “They chose to join us and the cultural fit between our two firms is superior. This is a win-win transaction for all concerned and this acquisition builds on our already deep presence in the Virginia, [Washington] D.C. area,” he said.
Added Mercer Advisor’s CEO Dave Welling, “Bruce and Ian have built a great business, a strong team, and they are highly respected wealth management professionals. We are thrilled they are joining the Mercer Advisors’ team and expanding our presence in Virginia. We look forward to working together to help deliver meaningful results for our shared clients.”