CI Financial Buying $23B Chicago RIA

Toronto-based CI Financial is buying RIA and institutional asset manager Segall Bryant & Hamill, doubling its U.S. asset base to $46 billion.

The RIA has about $6 billion on its wealth management platform, making it CI’s largest U.S. acquisition to date in terms of assets. Roughly $17 billion of the firm’s assets are tied to its institutional platform, which includes traditional and alternative investment strategies.

The deal is CI’s 14th U.S. acquisition (including some deals led by CI-affiliated RIAs) since January 2020, when the Canadian financial-services firm first entered the U.S. wealth management market.

After the SBH transaction is completed, CI’s total North American wealth management assets should total $82 billion, and its total assets are expected to reach $205 billion.

“Acquiring Segall Bryant & Hamill is a major step forward as we continue our U.S. expansion,” said CI Financial CEO Kurt MacAlpine, in a statement. “SBH has built an incredible business and formed a committed team that embodies the characteristics we look for in our acquisitions.

“I am pleased to announce that the SBH team will remain intact and be a key driver of CI’s growth in the U.S.,” MacAlpine added.

In addition to its $23 billion in assets, SBH has 122 employees and offices in Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, St. Louis and Naples, Florida. It was founded in 1994.

“CI is a strong strategic partner for SBH, providing the capital resources of a large, global investment firm while allowing us to retain our client-centric approach,” according to Philip Hildebrandt, SBH’s CEO. “We are excited to become part of the growing CI family of companies.”

Several CI acquisitions wrapped up on Dec. 31, 2020, and involved RGT Wealth Advisors of Dallas, the Roosevelt Investment Group of New York, Doyle Wealth Management of St. Petersburg, Florida, and Stavis & Cohen Financial of Houston.

In mid-December, Bloomberg reported that CI was interested in buying Wells Fargo’s asset management business, as were Ameriprise Financial, Reverence Capital Partners and GTCR.

— Check out Large RIAs Drive M&A Tied to Record $500B in Assets in 2020: Report on ThinkAdvisor.