Cerity Partners provides Bay Area, Minneapolis corporations in newest double-deal
Cornerstone Capital and Echo Wealth Management add about $1.7 billion as RIA M&A heads for a report yr.
Cerity Partners has expanded its geographic attain in a giant approach, deepening its presence within the Bay Area whereas on the identical time including a brand new market to its nationwide footprint.
The impartial wealth agency, which at the moment stories over $206 billion in AUM, stated Thursday that it’s absorbing Palo Alto, California-based Cornerstone Capital and Minneapolis-area Echo Wealth Management.
The double-deal announcement brings roughly $1.7 billion in mixed property below administration to the New York-based RIA, with Cornerstone contributing roughly $1.4 billion and deepens Cerity’s presence in Silicon Valley. Echo, with about $337 million, provides the agency its first foothold within the Minneapolis market.
Both Cornerstone and Echo will function below the Cerity Partners title.
A five-decade follow and an fairness compensation boutique
Cornerstone was based in 1978. It serves high-net-worth people and households in addition to charitable foundations and endowments. Its work combines capital allocation administration, monetary planning, and property and tax coordination.
“Cornerstone Capital has spent practically 50 years constructing the form of deep, multigenerational consumer belief that may’t be manufactured, solely earned,” stated Claire O’Keefe, associate and head of associate improvement at Cerity Partners.
Brad Dinsmore, a associate at Cornerstone, stated the agency needed a purchaser that might protect its method whereas broadening what it might provide purchasers.
“In Cerity Partners, we discovered a agency that shares our values and provides our purchasers entry to sources – in tax planning, property planning, and past – that we could not provide on our personal,” he stated.
Echo is a a lot youthful agency, having been based in 2015 by skilled advisor and planner Echo Huang. From its tax planning roots, the roughly decade-old follow has grown to now give attention to serving to company executives deal with fairness compensation and different complicated monetary selections.
“Our purchasers will proceed working with the identical workforce they know and belief whereas having access to Cerity Partners’ broader sources and specialised capabilities,” Huang stated.
O’Keefe referred to as the Twin Cities a precedence market. “Minneapolis is a crucial development marketplace for our agency, and Echo’s proficient colleagues, sturdy repute, and longstanding relationships inside the group make them a super match,” she stated.
Echo’s specialty is a well-known one for Cerity. In July, the agency agreed to merge with Portland-based Cordant Wealth Partners, a roughly $371 million follow that has a give attention to know-how workers managing restricted inventory items, worker inventory buy plans and deferred compensation.
Cerity’s 2026 acquisition streak
Cerity opened the yr with Austin Private Wealth in Texas and SOL Capital Management in Maryland. In February it moved into institutional consulting by way of a merger with Seattle-based Verus Investments, which oversees about $1.2 trillion in consumer property. Echelon’s first-quarter 2026 RIA M&A Deal Report counted 5 Cerity offers totaling about $22.7 billion in acquired property, with three of these transactions involving billion dollar-plus sellers.
Read extra: RIA M&A hits new quarterly record in Q1 2026, with $1.67 trillion in deals: Echelon report
In September, Cerity agreed to combine with West Des Moines-based Gilbert & Cook, its first transfer into Iowa. Days later it introduced a deal for 2 Manhattan advisory groups from Shufro Rose.
The agency’s development has been pushed and formed to a big extent by personal fairness. In 2022, Lightyear Capital rolled a part of its fairness into Genstar’s Cerity stake quite than exiting, which Echelon famous as one of many earliest high-profile examples of a sponsor staying invested by way of the subsequent possession cycle.
“In complete, there have been seven recapitalization occasions thus far this yr that have been direct transactions by a monetary acquirer,” Echelon stated in its Q2 2026 RIA deal report, emphasizing “the religion these PE buyers have in the way forward for the consolidation development on this trade.”
As of the midway mark in 2026, Echelon anticipated about 500 transactions for the total yr, which might prime 2025’s report of 466.
