Seward & Kissel Represents Source Financial Advisors in Connection with its Acquisition by Savant Wealth Management

December 19, 2024

Seward & Kissel’s Business Transactions Group Focusing on the Middle Market

Savant has acquired Source Financial Advisors Seward & Kissel acted as counsel to Source Financial Advisors. Seward & Kissel LLP January 2024On December 16, 2024, serial RIA acquirer Savant Wealth Management acquired Source Financial Advisors, a $536m RIA with a niche in serving high-net-worth women navigating divorce. Seward & Kissel is pleased to have represented Source Financial in connection with this investment management industry transaction.

Source Financial Advisors is a distinctly independent firm offering comprehensive wealth management and investment planning experience in a specialist practice structure. Savant Wealth Management is a fee-only, independent RIA firm, that offers investment management, financial planning, retirement planning, and family office services to financially established individuals and institutions.

Seward & Kissel LLP (www.sewkis.com) is a leading New York law firm, originally established in 1890, offering legal advice emphasizing business, financial and commercial law and related litigation.

The firm’s Business Transactions Group handles middle-market M&A, private equity, venture capital and joint venture transactions involving a wide variety of industries. The firm is ranked as Highly Regarded for Corporate/M&A by Chambers USA and is recommended by The Legal 500 in the middle-market M&A category, stating that Seward & Kissel “advises on market-leading transactions within the industries where the firm has an international reputation, namely investment management and shipping.“

The company’s announcement describing this transaction is reproduced below for your information.

For more information about Seward & Kissel, contact:

Savant buys $536m RIA in first New York deal

The acquisition for Source Financial Advisors, which specializes in serving divorced women, continues a recent trend by Savant of acquiring firms with niche capabilities.

Serial RIA acquirer Savant Wealth Management has made its first entry into New York state with a deal that the firm revealed on Monday.

Source Financial Advisors, a $536m RIA with a niche in serving high-net-worth women navigating divorce, sold to Savant last week. Specific financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it marks $29bn Savant’s fourth acquisition of the year.

Led by founder and CEO Michelle Smith, Source was founded in 2012. In joining Savant, Smith will now hold the titles of managing director, financial advisor and member-owner, according to the firm. Four additional members of Smith’s team at Source were also kept on by Savant but will be spread across various roles at the company.

‘Throughout my career, I’ve been committed to helping women understand their financial options as they navigate divorce, and I’m looking forward to helping Savant grow even stronger in this area,’ Smith stated.

Source also works with business owners and executives and provides a mix of services including family business valuation, tax planning and intergenerational investment planning. Smith also created a financial education platform, Wife2CFO, where divorced or divorcing women can receive guidance and tools as they navigate that change. Wife2CFO was also acquired by Savant as part of the Source deal.

The addition of Source also continues a recent push by Rockford, Ill.-based Savant to bolster the firm’s specialized client offerings. Most recently, the firm brought on Sortino Advisory Partners last month, a Louisville, Ky.-based firm with $375m in client assets that specializes in providing financial advice around issues with aging.

‘Our goal in acquiring these specialty firms is to provide our clients with best-in-class advice and recommendations that will make a more meaningful difference in their lives,’ Brent Brodeski, Savant’s CEO, stated. ‘While many advisors are familiar with, and can generally speak to the life-stage issues clients face, they may not have access to the in-depth knowledge and key resources their clients need.’

Savant has had a busy year both in terms of acquisitions and its executive team. The firm’s other deals this year included the acquisitions of $255m California-based Kemp Financial Management and $52m Michigan-based BDK Financial, which were both announced at the end of September. The Kemp Financial deal was Savant’s first acquisition of a California firm.

Savant recently reshuffled its executive team, led by the promotion of veteran employee Kevin Hrdlicka to its head of wealth. The firm’s other executive changes touched the technology, accounting and client-service sides of the mega-RIA.

Citywire recognized Savant in its 50 Growers Across America report earlier this year as one of the fastest-growing RIAs in Illinois. The company also has a tax affiliate, Savant Tax & Consulting, along with an affiliated law firm, Savant Legal LLP.

Brodeski is the majority owner of Savant, but the company is also minority backed by private equity firms Kelso & Company and The Cynosure Group. Savant says that it now has 43 offices in 18 states.

 

Related Attorneys
Nick Katsanos
Nick Katsanos

(212) 574-1382
katsanos@sewkis.com

Danielle Lemberg
Danielle Lemberg

(212) 574-1661
lemberg@sewkis.com

James E. Abbott

(212) 574-1226
abbott@sewkis.com

Craig A. Sklar

(212) 574-1386
sklar@sewkis.com

Meir R. Grossman

(212) 574-1242
grossman@sewkis.com

Gerhard Anderson

(212) 574-1687
anderson@sewkis.com

Related Practices