Mercer Global Advisors Inc. today announced it acquired ET George Investment Management LLC, a registered investment advisor in Starkville, Miss., with roughly 155 clients and $170 million in assets under management.
The firm is essentially a one-man financial planning shop operated by Ernie George, a certified financial planner who entered the financial services business in 1974 and eventually started his own independent practice about six years ago after a quarter-century as an independent contractor on the Raymond James Financial Services platform.
The company also includes his daughter, Katie Iglay, director of operations, and Vickie Willard, client service coordinator.
ET George Investment Management performs a full range of services spanning investments and comprehensive planning to trusteeship work and qualified retirement plans. But George said he realized he needed to look outward to ensure his clients wouldn’t be left in the lurch when he leaves the business. That search eventually led to Mercer Global Advisors.
“I never looked at this as a way to monetize my practice nor am I looking to retire,” he said in an interview. “I love what I do and care deeply about my clients, so my biggest concern was, as one of my clients told me, ‘What happens to me and my money if something happens to you?’”
“So this was all about trying find a fee-only, fiduciary firm that used the same custodian that I did,” he added.
George said he looked at a number of regional and national companies to link up with, and Mercer kept coming up at the top of the list. “I think there are a number of incredible firms out there, but Mercer had more of what I felt was in my staff’s and my clients’ best interest,” he said.
George, who said he has been a member of the Financial Planning Association longer than anyone in Mississippi, describes himself as independent-minded and entrepreneurial, and that’s another thing that attracted him to Mercer.
“One thing they said, which I thought made a lot of sense, is ‘Why would we buy firms and then ask them to change everything they’re doing to our way?’ I felt like that made them the right group,” he explained.
Deal terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed.
Mercer Global Advisors is a privately held, Denver-based RIA under the umbrella of Mercer Advisors Inc., which is majority owned by Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital. It operates in 45 locations across the U.S. and manages about $30.5 billion in client assets.