A pair of Top 100 Firms are partnering on wealth management, with HBK CPAs & Consultants’ affiliate HBKS Wealth Advisors acquiring a minority stake in K·Coe Isom LLP’s subsidiary K·Coe Wealth Management LLC.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, the firms said Wednesday that HBKS has $3 billion in assets under management. K·Coe had $356 million in AUM as of March 31, 2018, according to a spokesperson.
HBK, short for Hill, Barth & King, ranked No. 56 on Accounting Today’s 2018 of the Top 100 Firms, with $80 million in annual revenue, while K·Coe Isom ranked No. 69, with $64.55 million in annual revenue. K·Coe Isom came out of the 2015 merger of Kennedy and Coe with Matson and Isom.
HBK is based in Canfield, Ohio, and has 49 partners and 303 professionals. Its wealth management affiliate HBKS is based in Erie, Pennsylvania. K·Coe Isom is based in Loveland, Colorado, and has 56 partners and 211 professionals on staff.
The partnership takes effect immediately, and new market development is already underway.
K·Coe Isom CEO Jeff Wald believes the partnership will benefit the firm’s clients and team members. “The access we will have to the resources of a firm with $3 billion in AUM, including the HBKS infrastructure and depth of expertise is a clear, tangible benefit for our firm and our clients,” he said in a statement.
K·Coe Wealth principal Blake Allen said he is looking forward to working with HBKS. “HBKS’s success and growth in the past decade is remarkable,” he stated. “This partnership will amplify our wealth management capabilities and provide opportunities to collaborate with another CPA-centric wealth management firm to address client needs and develop solutions.”
“Our firms have a great deal in common, from our regard for the client experience to our cultural values and standards,” said HBKS Wealth Advisors CEO and Managing Partner Christopher M. Allegretti in a statement. “We are excited about the opportunity this venture provides, to extend our presence and influence west as far as California with a firm we have long respected.”
