After less than two tumultuous years at Boston Private Bank & Trust, RIA merger maven Peter Raimondi is returning to his roots as a dealmaker, joining consulting firm Gladstone Associates as a managing director.
Raimondi is best known for acquiring seven firms in five years after founding Banyan Partners in 2006 and then selling the firm to Boston Private Bank & Trust for a reported $60 million in cash and stock in 2014. An attorney by training, he also founded Colony Group in Boston in 1986 and ran the firm for 20 years. In January 2014, he appeared on the cover of
Raimondi's bold and sometimes brash entrepreneurial and leadership style did not prove to be a harmonious fit with the more staid Boston bank, however.
He was named chief executive and president of the newly created Boston Private Wealth, but eight months later he lost the CEO title and industry rivals described the Banyan-Boston Private marriage as dysfunctional.
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Raimondi's employment agreement with Boston Private, which ran for five years through October 2019, was "amended and restated," according to company financial filings.
BRIEF TENURE AT BOSTON PRIVATE
As president of Boston Private Wealth under the new leadership structure he was charged with heading mergers and acquisitions, among other duties that included creating and managing an Executive Services Group that provided services to high-end corporate or private company executive clients.
“I made some wonderful acquisitions and one or two questionable ones.”
Raimondi reported to Mark Thompson, the former Boston Private Bank chief executive, and Clayton Deutsch, chief executive of the bank's parent company, Boston Private Financial Holdings. Raimondi was "also subject to the authority and direction" of the company's board of directors.
When asked to comment on Raimondi's departure, Boston Private spokesman Steve Brownell said "Peter stepped down from involvement at Boston Private [in July] because he felt the time is right."
Asked about the four years remaining on Raimondi's contract, Brownell said the bank had no comment.
INTEGRATION ‘NOT EASY’
Raimondi said in an email that “it was time” for him to leave Boston Private Wealth. Blending the two distinct cultures of Banyan Partners and Boston Private Bank “was not an easy integration,” he admitted.
“As we created the new firm, Boston Private Wealth, and gave it a new brand identity, and remarkable national goals for success, we were keenly aware that this new firm was not going to be right for everyone,” he explained. “As a result, several legacy folks were recruited away by institutional firms and those departures created some transition headaches.”
Nonetheless, the integration into Boston Private Wealth was completed “successfully” by the end of last year, Raimondi says. In 2016, he helped CEO Corey Griffin and Chief Strategic Officer Scott Dell‘Orfano transition to their leadership roles.
“By July I felt that all the right team members were in place,” Raimondi says. “I am a loyal supporter of the company and believe Corey and Scott to be exceptional leaders. I will continue to bring new clients to the firm whenever I have the opportunity to do so.”
BACK IN THE ACQUISITIONS ARENA
Raimondi says he wanted to “get back into the acquisition arena but on the consulting side.” After “just one conversation” with Gladstone principals Dan Kreuter and Paul Lally, Raimondi says he was sold on Gladstone and “the value in our coming together” and helping RIAs who want to either acquire other firms or be bought.
Established firms have an edge as the M&A market moves toward another record year.
Adding Raimondi to Gladstone is the “next evolutionary chapter” in the firm’s history said Paul Lally, the firm’s president, in a statement. Lally praised Raimondi’s “tremendous personal depth of experience and expertise, as evidenced by his successes as an entrepreneur, combined with an incredible strategic mind.”
Describing his previous deal making, Raimondi said “I made some wonderful acquisitions and one or two questionable ones. Either way, you have to take ownership of your decisions. You need to do a forensic analysis of each and never repeat any mistakes. That’s what we did at Banyan.”
