Stratos Wealth's 12th SEI-era deal adds $400M Illinois partner

Stratos Wealth Enterprises has taken on its 12th partner since SEI Investments bought into the company in 2025. The new addition is RPI Financial Life Planners of Naperville, Illinois, a deal that brings about $400 million in client assets and gives Stratos a presence in Illinois, according to InvestmentNews.

Stratos had closed 11 deals by the end of 2025. They added about $4.8 billion in client assets across Ohio, Pennsylvania, California, Arizona, New York, Virginia, and Massachusetts. RPI is the 12th deal. It brings the total under SEI to roughly $5.2 billion. InvestmentNews says that pace puts Stratos among the more aggressive buyers in the independent advisory space.

RPI will keep its name, its team, its client relationships, and its 'Financial Life Planning' approach. In return, it gets Stratos's operations, technology, and growth resources. The firm was founded more than four decades ago and works with individuals, families, retirees, and business owners on retirement, tax, estate, and investment planning, plus life transitions. Its philosophy, the announcement says, is that planning should center on people and their life goals, not just portfolio performance.

Stratos founder and CEO Jeff Concepcion said in the announcement that RPI has 'built something special.' He added that its focus on relationships, planning excellence, and helping clients through big life decisions matches what Stratos stands for. Concepcion has been straightforward about the deal pace. In May, discussing the earlier run of 11 deals, he credited SEI's investment with letting Stratos support advisors faster while holding onto its entrepreneurial culture. SEI's Arthur Worthington, managing director of strategic business development and integration, said both firms believe great advice comes from understanding what matters most to clients.

Many private-equity-backed buyers fold acquisitions into a single national brand. Stratos leaves RPI's name, leadership, and process alone. The pitch is aimed at founders who want scale and institutional support without losing the identity they built. It also takes on the biggest worry in RIA M&A: that a sale erases a firm's legacy. Keeping RPI intact suggests the principals stay in the business, with pay likely tied to the network's growth rather than an upfront buyout.

RPI also gives Stratos a base in suburban Chicago. The firm's four decades in Naperville mean deep local ties, the sort of practice that fits Stratos's model of buying quality rather than just piling up assets.

SEI took a stake in Stratos in 2025. Now Stratos competes for advisor teams alongside custodians and broker-dealers, with SEI supplying capital and a familiar institutional name. In return, SEI likely gets a channel into the independent advice market, which increasingly wants institutional products and resources.

The pace has been steady since SEI came in. Whether Stratos can keep it up depends on finding more firms like RPI that want help but no rebranding. Other buyers may have to copy that approach as competition for good practices tightens.