Mercer Global Advisors, Inc., a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA), today announced the acquisition of Republic Wealth Advisors, LLC, a respected wealth management firm located principally in Houston, Texas, with satellite offices in Austin, Texas and Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Republic serves approximately 190 households with assets under management (AUM) of approximately $230MM. Republic is co-owned by Frederick M. Hanish, Kenneth J. Landgraf, and David H. Levy CFP®. Patrick T. Moore, MBA and Senior Client Advisor, will also be joining the Mercer Advisors team along with other Republic staff.
The addition of Republic augments Mercer Advisors’ already strong presence in Texas with existing Mercer offices in Houston, Austin, and Dallas.
Republic Wealth Advisors is a Texas-based fee-only registered investment advisory firm offering customizable investment management and wealth management advice for individuals, families, and institutions and was founded in 2001.
Frederick M. Hanish (Fred), has over 35 years of industry experience, and authored the book “Three Generations from the Outhouse,” and wrote the forward for “The Wealth Management Edge: Unlocking the Wealth Management Secrets of America’s Most Successful Families.” Kenneth J. Landgraf (Kenny) has appeared on CNBC and Fox Business News and has been interviewed by national media including The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg Radio, TheStreet.com, CNNMoney.com, and SmartMoney magazine. David H. Levy (David) has been interviewed and quoted by CNNMoney.com, Kiplinger’s, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and foreign-language media in Asia and Europe.
Dave Welling, Chief Executive Officer of Mercer Advisors said, “We are delighted to join forces with the Republic team and look forward to serving their clients with expanded wealth management services. We are also excited to expand our presence in both Houston and Austin. Adding Fred, Kenny, David and Pat to our existing array of advisors builds out our already deep bench of talent and surrounds the Republic team with new resources and capabilities to further their success and growth.”
Commenting on the transaction, Fred Hanish stated: “We had reached that point in our business where succession planning and business continuity for our clientele was a top of mind discussion for me and my partners. The questions that had to be answered for us in finding the right partner was: First, is this new partner good for our clients ~ will it add value to them? Second, is this good for our staff? And third, is this partner right for the co-owners of Republic? While we danced with a lot of interested parties, at the end of the day Mercer Advisors answered each of these three questions positively for us and they won our hearts and minds. This was a good cultural fit for both parties, we couldn’t be more excited!”
David Barton, Mercer Advisors’ Vice Chairman who led the acquisition added: “Republic has been helping individuals and families on the journey to financial independence since its founding in 2001, and like Mercer Advisors they always put their clients’ interests first – bedrock for any successful transaction. While the Republic deal was very competitive and went through a thorough process, our value proposition separated us from the competition. The fact that we offer in-house estate planning service (advice and documentation) to our clients, plus high-quality tax return preparation at wholesale pricing, along with 35 years of comprehensive financial planning experience, presented an unequaled competitive differentiator – we stood out in a crowded RIA buyer market. Finally, our national operating platform and robust organic growth gives Republic’s staff career path options and compensation upside few other buyers could match.”
FP Transitions’ M&A team, led by James Fisher, JD, supported Republic through the acquisition process. FP Transitions offers M&A, valuation and analytics services for the wealth management industry.
About Mercer Advisors
Established in 1985, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (“Mercer Advisors”) is a total wealth management firm that provides comprehensive, fee-based investment management, financial planning, family office services, retirement benefits and distribution planning, estate and tax planning, asset protection expertise, and corporate trustee and trust administration services. Mercer Advisors Inc. is a parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. (RIA), majority owned by both Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital, one of the largest Registered Investment Advisors and financial planning firms in the U.S. with approximately $17 billion in client assets. Headquartered in Denver, Mercer Advisors is privately held, has over 390 employees, and operates nationally through 46 offices across the country. For more information, visit www.merceradvisors.com.
Data as of December 10, 2019. AUM includes affiliates and wholly owned subsidiaries.
