Apella Wealth, a West Hartford, Connecticut-based registered investment advisor backed by Wealth Partners Capital Group, has closed two acquisitions in quick succession, adding nearly $1 billion in client assets and pushing its total assets under management past the $12 billion mark.
The firm announced the purchase of Morris Financial Concepts, a Mount Pleasant, South Carolina RIA founded in 1983, which brings approximately $544 million in AUM. Founder Kyra Hollowell Morris and Chief Compliance Officer James "Tucker" Morris will join Apella along with their team. Morris Financial provides financial planning, investment management, retirement planning, tax strategy, and legacy planning services to individuals and families.
In a statement, Kyra Hollowell Morris said the firm spent more than a year searching for a partner that shared its fiduciary, planning-first approach and would allow it to continue serving clients as it has for over four decades. The acquisition marks Apella's 17th since Wealth Partners Capital Group invested in September 2021, and its 28th overall since inception.
On the West Coast, Apella also revealed that Longview Financial Advisors, a San Rafael, California-based firm, has joined its platform with approximately $384 million in AUM. Longview founder Tim Harrington and his team serve a mix of professionals, families, and retirees. Harrington cited "strong alignment in our investment philosophy, planning-led approach and client-first cultures" as a key reason for joining.
Madison Snider, a director at Wealth Partners Capital Group, highlighted the strategic benefits of both deals. She noted Morris's decades of local relationships in coastal South Carolina and Longview's "evidence-based investment philosophy paired with holistic advice." The two transactions together add roughly $928 million in AUM, bringing Apella's total to approximately $12 billion.
The deals come amid a period of heightened selectivity in RIA M&A, even as overall transaction volume continues to climb. The 2026 RIA Deal Room report by Advisor Growth Strategies counted 276 RIA transactions in 2025, a new high, with a median valuation multiple of 11.6 times adjusted EBITDA. The report describes a market segmenting between well-positioned sellers and others, warning that RIAs in the $500 million to $5 billion range face pressure to scale quickly or eventually sell to a larger platform.
Separately, Schwab's 2026 RIA Benchmarking Study found that inorganic growth remains a viable strategy across the industry. Over the past five years, 35% of firms with $250 million or more in assets reported pursuing some form of inorganic activity, including mergers, acquisitions, or hiring advisors with existing books of business. The top reasons cited were increasing AUM, revenue, and client growth (91%), acquiring talent (65%), and creating scale (55%).
Looking ahead, the study found that 24% of firms with more than $250 million in assets are actively seeking to buy another RIA, a figure that rises to 31% among firms with more than $1 billion in assets. This suggests that dealmaking will remain robust, even as buyers become more discerning.
For context, other recent deals in the RIA space include Carson Group's $1.76 billion acquisition of a Wells Fargo team in New Hampshire, underscoring the scale of activity. Additionally, advisors are building safeguards against elder fraud, a growing concern as client demographics shift.
