Savant Wealth Management Closes Two Acquisitions in South Carolina
–-Savant’s Platform Vision Accelerating with 10 New Partners in 2023—
Savant Wealth Management announced it has acquired Clinton, S.C.-based Peay & Associates, LLC, a CPA firm providing tax and accounting services to individuals and businesses, and its associated RIA firm, SwaimBrown Wealth Management, with AUM of approximately $146 million, in a transaction that closed today. Earlier this month, Savant announced plans to acquire $2.2 billion Alabama-based Bridgeworth Wealth Management before the end of 2023.
Principal owner Jay Peay, CPA/PFS, CGMA, founded both Peay & Associates, LLC, and SwaimBrown Wealth in 2005. Peay and Ashley Tate, CPA/PFS, a minority owner in the accounting firm, will join Savant as member owners. Another five employees of the combined firms will become employees of Savant.
“The Peay/SwaimBrown deal marks our second combination purchase of 2023, and our sixth acquisition overall of a tax and accounting business,” said Brent Brodeski, CPA, CFP®, CFA®, MBA, chief executive officer of Savant. “We have leaned into acquiring CPA-led firms as part of our strategy because it helps differentiate Savant as a firm that has capabilities beyond basic financial planning. In addition, with the known shortage of CPAs in the U.S., this strategy strongly positions us to provide integrated wealth management and tax services to our clients,” he added.
“We were looking for a partner that could help us expand our service offerings to our growing client base in South Carolina. Savant has the resources we need to better serve both our clients and our employees,” said Peay. “Savant already has an office in Columbia, S.C., so we’re looking forward to expanding the firm’s presence here in the state.”
The acquisitions of Peay & Associates/SwaimBrown and Bridgeworth Wealth Management will bring Savant’s national footprint to 14 states and 38 offices. Previous acquisitions in 2023 included Basil Financial Group in Chicago, Capital Directions in Atlanta, Domani Wealth in Lancaster, PA, Paragon Financial Advisors in Columbia, S.C., The Relaxing Retirement Coach in Wellesley, MA, and R.F. Book & Associates and Wealth Management Group in Dover, DE.
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