Fast-growing roll-up United Capital has entered the Silicon Valley market with the addition of Bedrock Capital Management and its $320 million in assets under management.
The firm will take the name United Capital of Silicon Valley and will operate out of Bedrock’s Los Altos, Calif., office.
Bedrock Capital’s main principal, Joel Shaps, has become a managing director at United Capital, as have his fellow principals Tony Blagrove and Eric Lewis.
At the same time, United Capital announced the acquisition of $50 million AUM Harvest Group Financial Services in Langhome, Penn.
Terms of the two deals were not disclosed.
FROM CLIENT TO ADVISOR
The founders of both firms came to planning from entirely different professions.
Before taking the helm, Shaps sought advice as a Bedrock client after selling his consulting firm, which advised Silicon Valley companies on their purchasing processes, to a large public company. Bedrock was operating as a sole proprietorship at the time and its founder needed an exit in 2001. Shaps says he provided one by buying him out.
"It was about $40 million in assets," he says of Bedrock at the time. "We had some very nice growth over the past 15 years."
With United Capital, Shaps says he hopes to take the firm to the next level.
"This is not an exit strategy," he says. "They've got some incredible tools and processes and procedures that we can tap into."
Those tools include Money Mind and Honest Conversations, processes United Capital developed to help its advisors have more impactful discussions with clients on the subject of their finances and their futures.
"I think our clients will respond dramatically to this and become much more engaged," Shaps says. Furthermore, he adds, he no longer needs to worry about choosing the best software for his firm, nor contending with time-consuming issues like compliance.
"Now we have an organization behind us that will take that off our plate," Shaps says.
HEALTH ADVICE TO FINANCIAL ADVICE
Before founding Harvest Group in 1994, Rosemary Caligiuri was a registered nurse, caring for mothers facing high-risk pregnancies. From there, she transitioned into planning.
“When I first heard of United Capital in 2005, I knew then that I wasn’t ready to jump onboard," Caligiuri says in a statement. “But after taking another look, I realized this is where my journey should lead me."
Today, United Capital has approximately $15.4 billion AUM and 81 offices nationwide, according to a release. That's up from 61 offices nationwide and $13 billion in AUM in April, 2015.
Read more:
