EP Wealth has acquired CornerCap Investment Counsel, an Atlanta-based firm with $1.1 billion in managed assets. It’s EP Wealth’s fourth deal this year and the second totaling more than $1 billion in AUM.
In describing the deal, Ryan Parker, the CEO of the $26.2 billion EP Wealth, said CornerCap would be a “great addition” to the firm with a commitment to client service.
“Their values align with ours, and the partnership establishes an important Southeast hub as we continue on our path to becoming a single, nationwide RIA with extensive offerings and resources that allow our advisors across the country to deliver a local, boutique experience for clients who rely on EP,” Parker said.
Tom Quinn founded CornerCap in 1989, and it has worked in the Southeast region ever since. CEO Cannon Carr will become a regional director at EP Wealth, along with Quinn and CornerCap Senior Vice President Richard Bean. Quinn will also remain on board as a senior wealth advisor.
Additionally, Jeff Moeller will join EP Wealth as director of quantitative research, along with Catharine Sanders, a director of segment marketing. In the aftermath of the acquisition, 12 more team members will join EP.
EP Wealth is headquartered in Torrance, Calif., and has more than 36 offices throughout 13 states. It provides financial, tax and estate planning and investment management for individuals and businesses.
In 2017, it sold a minority stake to Wealth Partners Capital Group (WPCG), an offshoot of the wealth management division of Affiliated Managers Group, which focuses on investments in growing RIAs (EP Wealth was one of WPCG’s three partner firms at launch, also including Forbes Family Trust and MAI Capital Management).
Since 2017, EP Wealth has closed 33 deals, including four this year. The largest of the year was Wacker Wealth Partners, a San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based firm with about $1.2 billion in managed assets, serving 700 households and 27 institutional clients.
In total, 22 team members joined EP, Including CEO Ryan Caldwell, who became Central California’s regional director, and COO Bryan Krill, who became an associate regional director. According to EP Wealth co-founder Brian Parker (there’s no family relation with CEO Ryan Parker), the firm wanted a presence on the Golden State’s central coast and felt lucky to find Wacker, as there were few firms in that region.
In July, EP Wealth acquired Sloan Investment Management, a $700 million Dallas-based firm (founder Frank Sloan became an EP Wealth partner and regional director, along with Casey Conway and James Henry as senior vice presidents and Shannen Smith as vice president. The support staff all remained in place). According to the firm, the deal rocketed EP’s Dallas-based AUM above $1 billion.
Last November, the firm hired Acrisure alumnus Kyle Miller as its first managing director and head of M&A. EP Wealth also hired Megan Glover as its first chief people officer. She came from the Los Angeles-based bank SMBC MANUBANK, where she worked as a managing director and chief human resources officer.
