Wealth Enhancement Group, an independent wealth management firm headquartered in Plymouth, Minn., that has been aggressively buying up advisors this year, announced today it has agreed to acquire MACRO Consulting Group, an independent, hybrid RIA in Parsippany, N.J.
MACRO has about $900 million in client assets under management, which will bring Wealth Enhancement Group's total AUM to more than $35.5 billion, according to a press release.
It is the fifth acquisition deal for Wealth Enhancement Group this year and its sixth since December. The announcement comes a week after the firm agreed to purchase Hoover Financial Advisors, a hybrid RIA in the Philadelphia suburb of Malvern, Pa., with $1.46 billion in assets under management. The company has cast a wide net in its growth strategy, also buying firms in California, Boston, Connecticut and the Midwest.
The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The MACRO and Hoover deals are expected to close July 1, according to company spokesman Chris Clemens.
Wealth Enhancement has completed the other three acquisitions it announced this year, Clemens said. The RIAs acquired in those deals were Reby Advisors of Danbury, Conn., with $727 million AUM; North American Management Corp. of Boston, with $1.75 billion AUM; and Pillar Pacific Capital Management, an RIA based out of San Marino and Pacifica, Calif., with $1.6 billion AUM. The firm also acquired Financial Wealth Management, an RIA in Appleton, Wisc., with $320 million AUM, in December.
After the MACRO deal is completed, the firm's team of 24 people, including five financial advisors, will join Wealth Enhancement Group and "will operate under the Wealth Enhancement Group brand as the MACRO Team," the release stated.
Mark Cortazzo founded MACRO in 1992 with "a sharp focus on comprehensive wealth management and financial planning for affluent retirees and the 'millionaire next door,'" the release stated.
Cortazzo has been recognized on the Barron's Top Advisor list for 11 years, including five years as the top independent advisor in New Jersey, and he's been named among the top 250 wealth advisors in the U.S. by Forbes for four years, according to the release.
MACRO is led by Cortazzo and Nick Spagnoletti Jr., both of whom are CFPs with more than 30 years in the financial services industry, according to the release.
"I've known MACRO's founder, Mark Cortazzo, for many years, and have always been greatly impressed with his intellect and skill in building his business," Wealth Enhancement CEO Jeff Dekko said in a prepared statement. "MACRO's nearly 30-year history of helping clients address risk and build wealth is a natural cultural fit with our firm, and I look forward to supporting their team as we work together to continue to grow our footprint in the critically important Tristate area."