Robertson Stephens acquires Alpha, lifting its assets past $10 billion

Robertson Stephens Wealth Management has acquired Milwaukee-based Alpha Investment Consulting Group, an institutional consulting business with $714 million in assets under management, according to a Form ADV cited by WealthManagement.com. The deal brings the Bay Area firm's assets to over $10 billion, the report said.

The deal adds outsourced chief investment officer work for endowments and nonprofits to Robertson Stephens' existing retirement plan consulting and fiduciary training practice in Santa Rosa, Calif., according to the report. The institutional business works with foundations, endowments, religious organizations, nonprofit institutions, corporations and other complex stakeholders.

Bob Bukowski, who founded Alpha in 1989, will establish Robertson Stephens' newest office in Milwaukee. He is joined by Patrick Pierce, Tony Jones, Dan Strasser, Julia Ramer and Bailey Jordan.

CEO Raj Bhattacharyya said he sees significant synergies between the wealth business and institutional consulting, noting that many Robertson Stephens clients serve on foundation boards or hold senior positions at endowments. Having the capabilities to cover nonprofits, foundations and endowments "can be a nice cross-sell opportunity across our various client bases," he said, according to WealthManagement.com.

The coverage reviewed here gives no purchase price and no revenue figure for Alpha, so the deal cannot be valued from the Form ADV number. Alpha's $714 million is about 7% of the $10 billion-plus platform Robertson Stephens now cites. On assets alone, this reads as a capabilities purchase rather than a scale one. The report notes that some firms have recently found institutional clients, such as pensions and foundations, can drive significant revenue; whether that warranted a premium here is not disclosed.

Robertson Stephens has grown through acquisitions and recruiting to 28 advisory teams across 26 offices. It operates as a partnership in which all advisor principals and senior executives own equity, and it is backed by private equity firm Long Arc Capital. The firm has changed hands before: Bank of America acquired it in 1997 and sold it to BankBoston 12 months later, and the original management team, headed by Joseph Piazza, rebuilt it in 2013.