Waverly Advisors buys $151M Oregon RIA; Apella Wealth adds $261M Blue Spark

Two acquirers backed by Wealth Partners Capital Group have added roughly $412 million in client assets between them, according to InvestmentNews. Waverly Advisors bought MCS Family Wealth Advisors, a $151 million practice with offices in Bend and Eugene, Oregon. Apella Wealth acquired Blue Spark Capital Advisors, a $261 million firm with offices in New York City and Great Barrington, Massachusetts.

The MCS purchase is Waverly's 37th since WPCG and HGGC, whose Aspire Holdings platform took an equity stake in Waverly in December 2021. The Birmingham, Alabama fee-only RIA now oversees roughly $38.4 billion.

Michael Stalker founded MCS in 1991 and built it on financial planning, retirement planning and investment management for high-net-worth individuals and families. He said the firm's mission as a fiduciary was to "transform money from a source of worry to a resource for fulfillment." Jeff Yamada has worked alongside him since 2004, and both join Waverly as partners and wealth advisors.

Blue Spark founder and CEO Maura Griffin is a certified financial planner with an MBA and more than 25 years in the industry. Her practice concentrates on women working through divorce, the loss of a spouse or partner, career changes and retirement, with a heavy emphasis on client education. She joins Apella as a partner and senior wealth advisor and brings her team.

All three principals named in the two announcements are staying on as partners. The coverage does not disclose purchase prices or how the consideration is structured.

As this publication reported in September, a 383-deal gap between announced and closed RIA transactions puts the binding constraint inside the acquirer, where funding, staffing and integration capacity decide the schedule. A September headline in our pages counted Apella's 18th deal and noted six acquisitions in eight and a half months.