Goldman Sachs has agreed to acquire US-based boutique wealth management company United Capital Financial Partners for $750m in an all-cash deal.
Image: US wealth management firm United Capital to be acquired by Goldman Sachs. Photo: courtesy of Z4dude/Wikimedia Commons.
Headquartered in California, United Capital provides wealth management and financial advisory services from more than 90 offices in the US. The company holds $25bn of assets under management and boasts of over 220 financial advisors catering to 22,000 clients.
United Capital is a registered investment advisor that provides objective advice and an open architecture platform which facilitates a range of investment management solutions customized specifically to the requirements of clients.
The company’s digital platform called FinLife CX is claimed to help independent advisors run their financial advisory business and engage their clients to stay informed and remain on track about their financial life.
Goldman Sachs chairman and CEO David Solomon said: “We have a leading wealth management franchise, driven by our preeminent Private Wealth Management and Ayco offerings, which will serve as a cornerstone of our business as we execute on our long-term strategy to offer clients solutions across the wealth spectrum.
“United Capital will help accelerate this strategy by broadening our reach, allowing more clients to access the intellectual capital and investment capabilities of Goldman Sachs.”
Goldman Sachs said that the acquisition will grow its wealth management business, which includes Private Wealth Management and Ayco, whose combined assets under supervision are nearly $500bn.
Private Wealth Management offers advice and investment solutions to high net worth individuals, families and endowments, while Ayco helps corporate executives and employees with financial counseling and investment management services.
United Capital is expected to improve the ability of Goldman Sachs in covering a wide range of clients in Ayco’s corporate client base with financial planning solutions. Goldman Sachs expects this to happen through an advisor-led, tech-enabled platform with significant scale and geographic presence.
The company believes that the efforts will complement the digitally-empowered consumer platform for individuals from Marcus by Goldman Sachs, and will eventually offer a complete range of services across the wealth spectrum.
Subject to receipt of regulatory approvals and customary conditions, the transaction is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2019.
Last month, United Capital’s subsidiary United Capital Financial Advisers, which is a financial life management firm, acquired two registered investment firms Irongate International and Peachtree Investment Advisors, to add more than $800m in assets under management.