New name, same game: World Investment Advisors acquires $3.5B team from Raymond James

Fresh off a rebranding, the RIA aggregator World Investment Advisors is making a big splash with its acquisition of a formerly Raymond James-affiliated team managing more than $3 billion.

World Investment Advisors, which changed its name from Pensionmark Financial Group last week, announced Wednesday that it had acquired Boston Harbor Wealth Advisors for an undisclosed amount. Westborough, Massachusetts-based Boston Harbor Wealth has roughly 75 employees, 15 offices in the northeast and Ohio and $3.5 billion under management, according to a press release announcing the deal.

Boston Harbor Wealth was most recently affiliated with Raymond James, where it offered financial planning and investment management to individual clients, families and businesses. Matthew Davis, the CEO of Boston Harbor Wealth, said he expects private equity-backed World Investment Advisors to help drive his firm’s own expansion plans.

“Having World’s backing will significantly increase our effectiveness as we expand our recruiting efforts in the RIA space with a more robust and competitive offering for advisors,” he said in a statement.

“This partnership further solidifies World as the destination of choice for growth-focused advisory firms,” said Troy Hammond, the CEO of World Investment Advisors, in a statement.

Like many private equity-backed RIA aggregators, World Investment Advisors has been lining up a series of prominent acquisitions. In August 2023, it announced its purchase of Tomorrow’s Financial Services and Tomorrow Wealth Management in a deal that brought in 164 advisors and $5.5 billion in client assets.

The last nine months have seen World Investment Advisors land three acquisitions, including two teams managing more than $3 billion, according to the latest press release. All told, the firm is managing $11.5 billion in assets, from which it derives 64% of its revenue.

READ MORE: 7 insider RIA M&A trends, from mini-mega to equity-culture revolutionAfter parent’s Goldman deal, retirement firm to add $5.5B company$295B in assets, 6,500 advisors: 2023’s biggest IBD recruiting and M&A dealsPrivate equity ‘revolution’ brings risks to wealth and accountingPE-backed acquisitions plow ahead with Arax buying $1.7B RIA

David DeVoe, the founder and CEO of the consulting and valuation firm DeVoe & Co., said in an interview Wednesday that deals like World Investment Advisors’ have helped propel M&A activity over the past few years. DeVoe, who worked with Boston Harbor Wealth on its acquisition, said dealmaking is continuing at a “healthy and stable” pace this year but seems to have hit a plateau.

His firm’s research shows 141 wealth management M&A deals have taken place in 2024, a figure up 3.7% from 2023. DeVoe & Company projects the number will hit 267 by year end, showing a 6.4% increase.

DeVoe said he doesn’t expect to see an uptick in dealmaking until the Federal Reserve lowers interest rates, a change many analysts expect to happen this year. For one, DeVoe said, lowering rates will make it easier for the private equity firms behind much of the recent M&A activity to borrow money for future deals. And it should make it easier for many owners to pay off debt owed on previous acquisitions.

“Most of the private equity-backed firms have some debt ratios that are constraining their M&A activity,” DeVoe said. “A good aspect of these sophisticated management teams is how they are being disciplined about how they are deploying their capital and making sure they have a strong capital position in their companies.”

World Investment Advisors’ private backing comes through its parent firm, World Insurance Associates. Both the private equity firm Charlesbank Capital Partners and funds advised by Goldman Sachs Asset Management have invested money in World Insurance. The deal by the Goldman-advised funds, announced in August 2023, set the value of the firm at $3.4 billion, according to a press release at the time.

Private equity owners, though driving many of the recent M&A deals, have been raising eyebrows in some corners of the industry. At an industry conference in New York in June, Raymond James President and Chief Financial Officer Paul Shoukry voiced common concerns that private owners aren’t in the wealth management business for the long haul.

Raymond James, which didn’t respond to a request for comment, has been a public company since 1983.

“That long-term value proposition is the exact opposite of the value proposition that the private equity firms are offering,” said Shoukry, who’s slated to become CEO next year. “They’re offering investors the highest return possible in the shortest amount of time possible. And that, by definition, may require yet another catalyst for a disruptive event for advisors and their clients three to five years down the road.”