Cerity Partners, a national ultra-high-net-worth advisory firm, has struck a deal to merge with Gilbert & Cook, a West Des Moines, Iowa-based registered investment adviser with roughly $2 billion in assets under management. The transaction, announced Friday, gives Cerity its first physical presence in Iowa and extends a 2026 acquisition campaign that has already touched Texas, California, Illinois, Tennessee, Oregon, and now the Midwest.
Gilbert & Cook, founded in 1993 by Linda Cook, will operate under the Cerity Partners brand. The firm's clients will gain access to Cerity's broader service menu, which includes business-owner advisory, multigenerational estate planning, private family office services, divorce financial planning, and private markets investing, according to the announcement.
"Gilbert & Cook has built an outstanding reputation based on trust, expertise, and an unwavering dedication to their clients," said Claire O'Keefe, partner and head of partner development at Cerity Partners. "By bringing our firms together, we are strengthening our ability to deliver deeply personalized, integrated wealth advice while expanding our reach into the Des Moines community."
Linda Cook, founder and managing partner of Gilbert & Cook, said the decision to join Cerity was driven by a "strong alignment in values and philosophy." She noted that for more than three decades, her firm's mission has centered on building relationships with clients, colleagues, and the local community.
The Iowa deal is the latest in a series of moves this year. In March, Cerity added two firms in the Chicago area and Southern California. In April, it gained a Tennessee foothold through a merger with Covenant Partners. By June, it had absorbed a Torrance, California tax and CPA practice into its El Segundo office. In July, Cerity made its first foray into the Pacific Northwest by merging with Portland-based Cordant Wealth Partners.
Cerity also strengthened its executive ranks in July, naming Will Peng as its first chief innovation officer. Peng is tasked with integrating a service model across a firm that has grown rapidly through mergers and acquisitions.
The firm encountered a setback in April when the Chicago Teachers' Pension Fund dropped Cerity as its investment consultant, citing concerns about the private equity ownership behind its parent company. Cerity is majority-owned by Genstar Capital, with minority stakes held by Warburg Pincus and Lightyear Capital; management and employees retain the remaining shares.
Cerity's expansion mirrors a broader acceleration in RIA M&A activity. According to Echelon Partners' first-quarter 2026 RIA M&A Deal Report, Cerity closed five deals in the first quarter alone, putting it on pace to far exceed its full-year 2025 total of seven transactions. Industry-wide, Echelon counted 142 transactions in the first quarter, a new quarterly record, surpassing the previous high of 125 deals set in both the third and fourth quarters of 2025. Average assets under management per deal reached $1.8 billion, the highest since 2021, while total transacted assets hit $1.67 trillion—more than double the $805 billion recorded in the first quarter of 2025.
For advisors tracking consolidation trends, the Cerity-Gilbert & Cook deal underscores how mid-sized RIAs are seeking scale to compete for top talent and client relationships. Similar moves include Wealth Enhancement's entry into Alaska and Maridea's Pennsylvania expansion. As the pace of M&A accelerates, firms like Cerity are positioning themselves to offer a wider range of services while maintaining a local presence.
