Looking to achieve a 40% lift in revenues, five advisors with McDonald, Cox & Klugh and their $415 million in assets under management have joined United Capital.
The deal marks the roll-up's entry into the South Carolina market with the firm's two offices in Anderson and Seneca.
"We want to achieve the kind of growth that most of the offices that join United Capital" experience, says Thomas McDonald, one of the firm's founders.
United Capital's unique copyrighted system for working with clients – comprising a guidebook and two branded processes, Money Mind Analyzer and Honest Conversations – eventually pushed the firm founders to go with United Capital, McDonald says.
"Over the years, we've been approached by a number of potential partners, both big and small," McDonald says in a statement. "Each time, my partners and I would walk away thinking that 'they're not doing things any better than we already are.' That changed when we met with United Capital. At our best, our strengths lie in investment management and properly caring for our clients' lives and incomes, but we really feel that United Capital and its ability to help people understand the nuances of financial life management is what excites us most."
HELPING CLIENTS PRIORITIZE
The client management system, in particular, helps clients set and prioritize goals, McDonald says.
"You can periodically check and see if the clients are ahead or behind in their goals," he says. "They can adjust and speed them up or slow them down. When you log into the guidance system, it tells you that you need to get the client in for a review."
United Capital's offerings around compliance, marketing, human resources and accounting functions also proved persuasive, McDonald says.
United Capital has brought in $3 billion in assets under management thus far through acquisitions this year, says Matt Brinker, United Capital's senior vice president of partner development and acquisitions.
"There have been a ton of deals this year and I am not convinced this volume is tied to the 'aging demographic of owners' or succession planning, but a recognition that charting these waters alone may not be the best tact," Brinker says in the statement.
The deal coincides with the firm's 24th year of business. Aside from McDonald, T. Brandon Cox and Arthur Klugh join United Capital as managing directors in Anderson. In Seneca, Jim Charbonneau joins as a senior wealth adviser and Taber Brown as a wealth adviser.
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