RIA moves: Tech-focused RIA BKFi expands with first acquisition
San Diego advisory team brings private bank expertise and $225M in assets as the firm targets technology professionals nationwide.
BKFi, the New York-based registered investment advisor built exclusively for technology industry professionals, has completed its first acquisition, bringing San Diego-based Wealth With Options into the firm and adding Jackie Lewis, CFP, MBA, and Ryan Goldenhar, CFA, CFP, as partners.
The deal adds approximately $225 million in assets under management and extends BKFi’s geographic footprint to the West Coast, positioning it closer to the technology hubs where many of its clients live and work. It is the firm’s first merger since being founded in 2018 by AJ Ayers, CFP, CEO, and Shane Mason in New York.
Built for complexity tech workers face
BKFi was founded on the premise that employees at technology companies encounter financial decisions that most advisors are simply not equipped to handle such as RSUs, stock options, pre-IPO planning, tender offers, and concentrated equity positions. The firm currently advises executives and employees at companies including Palantir, Anthropic, Spotify, and SpaceX.
The acquisition of Wealth With Options sharpens that thesis. Lewis and Goldenhar bring backgrounds in private banking and trust services, areas where the firm sees an opportunity to deliver institutional-grade advice earlier in clients’ financial lives.
“People who work in tech have some of the most complex financial lives in the country, and they deserve a firm that is fully dedicated to them,” Ayers said. “Jackie and Ryan bring the experience to make BKFi better, not just bigger, on a platform built to welcome firms like theirs.”
The deal arrives as niche-focused RIAs increasingly compete for tech workers whose equity-laden compensation packages demand sophisticated, integrated planning. It’s a trend that InvestmentNews has tracked closely as consolidation accelerates across the RIA landscape.
Private bank experience as a differentiator
Lewis, who spent her career serving high-net-worth families at private banks before joining BKFi, framed the move as a natural extension of the work she was already doing – just reaching clients earlier.
“I spent years at private banks serving families with significant wealth. The people BKFi works with deserve that same level of care and sophistication much earlier in their lives, when the decisions they make about their equity shape everything that comes after,” Lewis said.
Goldenhar pointed to BKFi’s culture as central to the decision. “BKFi treats advisors as individuals with their own voices and gives them a platform to grow. Joining the firm lets us spend more of our time doing what we do best for our clients,” he said.
As the first acquisition in BKFi’s history, the deal also signals a shift in the firm’s growth strategy. BKFi has stated its intention to pursue additional mergers in 2027 and beyond, selecting partners based on culture and client fit rather than scale alone. This mirrors a broader pattern InvestmentNews has reported on with RIAs focused on tech employees emerging as a distinct and competitive segment of the advisory market.
Private equity backing accelerates the platform
The merger is supported by Accelerated Wealth Partners (AWP), a growth-stage investor for independent RIAs that made a minority investment in BKFi earlier in 2026. AWP advises BKFi’s leadership on M&A strategy and marketing, while founders Ayers and Mason retain operating control.
The involvement of a strategic growth investor is consistent with broader deal dynamics in the independent advice space. As InvestmentNews has reported, private equity-backed platforms are increasingly shaping how RIAs approach inorganic growth, with advisors seeking alignment on client philosophy and operating culture as much as economics.
For BKFi, the emphasis on culture fit is the firm’s stated selection criterion. That discipline, Ayers suggested, is what will distinguish BKFi’s acquisition strategy from more volume-driven consolidators.
Lewis and Goldenhar join BKFi’s Leadership Team and will lead the firm’s West Coast operations, deepening its presence in markets where technology sector wealth is most concentrated.
