Choreo to acquire Cherry Bekaert Wealth Management

Choreo, a Chicago-based independent investment advisory firm that spun off from Top 10 Firm RSM US earlier this year, is acquiring Cherry Bekaert's wealth management business.

Cherry Bekaert Wealth Management has approximately $1 billion in client assets under management. The deal with Richmond, Virginia-based Top 25 Firm Cherry Bekaert will expand Choreo's footprint to the Southeast and expand its assets under management to $14.5 billion. Choreo's assets under management were approximately $9.9 billion in Accounting Today's Billion-Dollar Wealth Magnets ranking in May, but the firm has since made other acquisitions, including Enso Wealth Management in Northern California and Nevada earlier this month, which added $1.8 billion in assets under management.

Choreo launched as an independent advisory firm in February after private equity firm Parthenon Capital teamed up with a group of RSM executives, including Dave Scudder, the former leader of RSM US Wealth Management and managing partner of RSM US's predecessor firm McGladrey & Pullen, to acquire the wealth management practice from the Top 10 Firm. Cherry Bekaert later received its own jolt of private equity funding from Parthenon in June and split into Cherry Bekaert LLP as the licensed CPA firm and Cherry Bekaert Advisory LLC to provide business advisory and non-attest services (see story). The Cherry Bekaert Advisory side has now sold off the wealth management subsidiary to Choreo. It provides portfolio management, financial planning, investment advisory oversight retirement planning and other services.

"This is just the start of our partnership with Cherry Bekaert," said Choreo CEO Larry Miles in a statement Wednesday. "Both of our firms live at the intersection of wealth, financial, tax and estate planning. Together we believe we can do an even better job of choreographing our clients' lives. We're elated to welcome our new teammates."

Cherry Bekaert Advisory CEO Michelle Thompson stated the two firms would continue a strategic relationship.

As of April 30, 2022, Choreo had $9.5 billion in regulatory assets under management, with an additional $2.3 billion in assets under advisement related to holdings of clients for which the firm provided aggregated reporting, financial planning, wealth management consulting, retirement plan consulting and advisory services, and/or similar services. As of April 30, 2022, CBWM reported managing approximately $558 million in assets under management on a discretionary basis and $10.8 million on a non-discretionary basis, with approximately $435 million in additional assets under advisement as of Sept. 30, 2022.