Mercer Global Advisors said it has acquired Empyrion Wealth Management Inc., a Rosehill, Calif.-based comprehensive wealth management firm that services 90 clients with roughly $250 million in assets under management, according to a news release yesterday.
Empyrion, founded in 2002 by Kimberly Foss, focuses on serving the financial needs of family stewards, women in transition and retirees. It’s the 15th woman-led advisory practice that Mercer Advisors has acquired since 2016.
Foss, a regular speaker at Financial Advisor’s Invest In Women annual conference, has also shared her financial expertise on media outlets, including The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNBC, Fox News, Fox Business and MSN Money. She has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Investor’s Business Daily and U.S. News & World Report.
Foss said she wanted to join a leading national RIA to add more scale and leverage capabilities for her team and clients. “[Mercer Advisors’] comprehensive ‘family office’ approach to client care with in-house services like estate planning, tax consultation and tax return preparation, etc., adds the depth and breadth of service I was looking for and allows me to off-load burdensome back-office work so that I can focus on what is most important—my clients,” she said.
There were six firms she considered partnering with, but “in my gut I knew it was going to be Mercer,” she said, noting that she has known David Barton, Mercer Advisors’ vice chairman, for almost three decades. “We grew up in the industry together,” she said, noting that they had a shared relationship with Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA).
Foss said that while Empyrion will eventually be branded as Mercer Advisors, she gets to hold on to her office and staff, remain with Charles Schwab and continue to have an association with DFA. She will assume the role of senior wealth advisor.
Barton, who leads mergers and acquisition at Mercer Advisors, said Foss “is an exceptional financial planner, speaker, author, a real renaissance woman, and her skill set is highly distinct and valuable.” He added, “We are proud to add Kimberly’s voice to our team and help share our message of financial freedom across multiple media platforms.”
Mercer’s CEO, Dave Welling said, “The business combination between Mercer Advisors and Empyrion is an ideal fit with both firms anchoring on financial planning. We are thrilled they are joining the Mercer Advisors team and look forward to working together to help deliver meaningful results for our shared clients.”
The Denver-based Mercer Advisors has more than $46 billion in client assets, along with more than 870 employees in more than 90 offices across the U.S. The company is a privately held entity of Mercer Advisors Inc., which is majority-owned by Oak Hill Capital Partners and Genstar Capital.