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Industry Spotlight > Mergers and Acquisitions

Cerity Partners Adds UHNW Firm in New York

By Jeff Berman

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What You Need to Know

  • Adding AJ Wealth expands Cerity’s ability to serve ultra-high-net-worth clients with complex wealth management needs, the firm says.
  • The combined firm will operate under the Cerity Partners name.
  • Terms of the transaction were not immediately disclosed.

Registered investment advisor Cerity Partners has acquired AJ Wealth, an RIA managing over $2 billion in client assets and specializing in family office services for ultra-high-net-worth families, Cerity said Wednesday.

Both firms have their headquarters in New York City. The combined firm will operate under the Cerity Partners name, it said.

Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed, and Cerity didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

AJ Wealth was advised on the transaction by Park Sutton Advisors, which manages assets totaling $65 billion, Cerity said.

For Cerity, the combination expands its capability in “serving ultra-high-net-worth clients with complex wealth management needs,” it said. “One of AJ Wealth’s unique areas of expertise is the complex estate and tax planning issues for clients with carried interests in their firm’s investment funds,” according to Cerity.

“AJ Wealth has significant expertise working with partners and founders of hedge funds, private equity and venture capital firms, business owners, and C-suite executives,” Cerity pointed out.

AJ Wealth was founded in 2012 by Andrew Cooper and Justyn Volesko, who previously worked in Goldman Sachs’ Family Office unit. Cerity was founded in 2009.

Kurt Miscinski, Cerity CEO and president, sees the combination with AJ Wealth as an accelerant to the firm’s growth in working with exceptionally wealthy individuals and families.

AJ Wealth’s “highly customized family office service is unique in our industry,” according to Miscinski. “Our merger allows us to broaden the depth of our service offering and will accelerate our firm’s growth in an important and expanding client segment,” he said in a statement.

“Furthermore, our new colleagues’ experience working with partners and founders of hedge fund, private equity, and venture capital firms will deepen our expertise and leadership in serving these clients,” he added.

“Partnering with Cerity Partners is a natural evolution of our firm,” according to Cooper. “From our time working with Goldman Sachs partners within the Goldman Sachs Family Office to the founding of AJ Wealth, we constantly strive to exceed client expectations and provide the highest level of service in the industry as well as the most creative and sophisticated planning.”

Cooper said in a statement: “Our clients work with us because we are a true ‘financial planning first’ firm providing a suite of family office services that allow us to handle all aspects of their financial lives. Our clients have complex financial situations and are looking for someone to oversee their entire financial picture.”

He added: “Our experience matched with Cerity Partners’ wide range of services and investment capabilities will help make this partnership very successful for our clients and firm. We look forward to leveraging our expertise to create a best-in-class family office service for Cerity Partners.”

The combination of the firms will include the creation of two new leadership positions within the organization that Cerity said will “further develop the firm’s family office service offering.” In that role, Cooper and Volesko will use their expertise and experience to expand Cerity Partners’ offerings to clients seeking a family office solution, according to the firms.

“Merging with Cerity Partners will enable us to better serve our existing clients and further enhance a leading family office solution for new clients,” Volesko said.

Other similar transactions by Cerity included its merger with Permit Capital Advisors in 2022 and its merger with Sullivan & Serwitz in 2020.

Credit: Shutterstock

Jeff Berman

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