Multifamily office Cresset is approaching $33 billion in assets under management after purchasing the majority of a firm it had invested in on a minority basis three years ago.
San Francisco-based
The overall number of M&A deals has fallen off last year's pace by 20%, but the
True's principal owners, Heather Goodman and Doug Raetz, have been working with athletes for two decades dating back to their days with Smith Barney before launching their registered investment advisory firm. True acquired a practice catering to country musicians last year, and the firm is seeking to expand its reach under Cresset further into entertainment with Hollywood directors and actors in addition to athletes in football, basketball, baseball, golf and hockey.
"It's offering those high-quality services to people who need them," Goodman said in an interview. "There are so many verticals that can be tapped into."
Deal volume fell by 19 transactions year over year to 75 in the first quarter, according to Echelon, which estimated in its latest tracking study that the number will amount to 315 by the end of the year. In 2022, the volume set a record for the 10th straight year with 341 deals.
The flow
Companies managing at least $1 billion in client assets "are especially attractive to acquirers as they tend to have experienced management and established processes and platforms," the report stated. "Our research indicates that, in the face of rising borrowing costs and economic uncertainty, buyers are being selective in the acquisitions they consider, a fact that may favor owners of $1B+ wealth managers."
With hundreds of deals closing across the industry each year, many RIAs have spoken with technology vendors about software integrations under new ownership structures or the process of talking through the transactions with their client bases, according to Julie Littlechild, the CEO of
"As firms are merging or being acquired, one of the most important things they come to us about is understanding how the clients feel about it," Littlechild said. "This is the time they need to talk to clients to see how they feel about that and ensure that they answer all those questions."
Cresset has been growing rapidly on the
"We see an enormous opportunity, an opportunity that's far greater than when Avy and I started Cresset five years ago," Becker said. "We want to go where we can deliver value and excellence to clients."
At the time of Cresset's initial investment in True three years ago, the firm listed $1.2 billion in client assets from 200 households. In 2007, the firm managed $40 million on behalf of 40 athlete clients, Goodman said.
"Athletes were just starting to make the money that they're making today," she said. "We really had an opportunity to learn about the marketplace and realize that there just weren't many advisors focused on the athlete space."
