Rockford, Ill.-based RIA Savant Wealth Management announced that it has added Patrick Lawlor as head of mergers and acquisitions.

Lawlor, who holds both CFP and CFA marks, was most recently president and head of M&A at The Mather Group, a Chicago-based wealth management firm. In his new role at the $14.3 billion AUM RIA, he will work with Savant CEO Brent Brodeski to lead the firm’s inorganic growth efforts.

Savant has a goal to grow its business three to five times over the next five years.

“In 2021 we re-capitalized to provide Savant significantly more growth capital to accelerate from incremental to exponential growth,” said Brodeski in comments released yesterday. “In 2022, we focused on strengthening our advisory leadership team to better position Savant for future growth. Now, we’re ramping up our growth engine by significantly expanding our M&A team, accelerating the size and volume of our M&A activity, and developing cutting-edge technology that will differentiate our client experience and help generate organic growth. Patrick has an amazing track record for spearheading growth initiatives, and will be instrumental in crystallizing our value proposition to RIA firms looking for a growth partner.”

In his own released comments, Lawlor said that Savant attracted him because of its preference for acquiring founder-driven, fee-only RIAs rather than the go-go inorganic growth through continuous capital raising exhibited by many aggregators

“That core difference, along with Savant’s culture and vision for growth, helps distinguish the firm as a leader in the industry,” said Lawlor.