Deals & Moves: RFG Advisory Oversees RIA Merger to Form $750M WFA Volare
In other deal news, Wealthcare adds a $550 million RIA to its 1099 channel, OnePointBFG expands in Florida, and Hightower pulls a $1.6 billion affiliate into its Signature Wealth employee advisor business.
September 11, 2026
RFG Advisory, a Birmingham, Ala.-based registered investment advisor platform nearing $9 billion in client assets, announced the merger of two of its platform firms, WFA and Volare Wealth Advisors, to form WFA Volare, managing more than $750 million in client assets.
WFA Volare combines a 16-person team across multiple markets and brings together WFA, which was founded in 1997 in Louisiana, and Volare, which was founded by Christine Wedell in 2022 with a practice focused on serving women in transition.
"This was never about getting bigger. It was about getting better for our clients,” said Dany Martin, partner and wealth advisor at WFA Volare.
The RIA focuses on retirees, high-earning professionals, women navigating financial transitions, and elite athletes and their families. The team includes Matthew Johnson, who recently joined from LPL Financial, Chase Crump, Louisiana’s only NFL Players Association RIA, and wealth advisor Brandon Wilson, a former NFL athlete, according to the announcement.
“Our role is to give advisors the freedom and resources to build a stronger business while protecting what matters most to them and their clients,” RFG CEO Shannon Spotswood said in a statement.
Earlier this year, RFG completed its first advisor-majority acquisition of a firm, RVA Wealth Management, with executives noting the firm would remain primarily a 1099 RIA platform. RFG is majority-owned by the private equity firm Long Ridge Equity Partners.
Wealthcare Advisory Partners Adds $550M IAM Advisory
Wealthcare Advisory Partners, a West Chester, Pa.-based hybrid RIA with $10 billion in AUM, said Wednesday that IAM Advisory has joined the firm, adding eight advisors, five operations staff members and $550 million in AUM in Pennsylvania.
The deal was set up to allow IAM Advisory to maintain its brand and equity ownership through a revenue buy-down arrangement while accessing Wealthcare’s resources and support. Wealthcare, which is owned by Sammons Financial Group, offers hybrid and fee-only 1099 models, W-2 employee affiliation and acquisition options.
IAM Advisory is run by Joseph Parsons and his daughter, Holly Parsons Jinks.
“We chose Wealthcare because it gives us the best of both worlds,” Joseph Parsons, president and managing partner of IAM Advisory, said in a statement. “We can continue serving our clients and operating our business in the way we believe is best, while gaining access to the scale, technology and support of a larger organization.”
Wealthcare offers its various affiliation models through three RIAs: Wealthcare Advisory Partners, Wealthcare Capital Management and Wealthcare Capital Partners.
OnePoint BFG Wealth Acquires $400M Bast Financial Group
OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, a Parsippany, N.J.-based RIA with $18 billion in client assets, announced the acquisition of Bast Financial Group, a Tampa, Fla.-based wealth management firm led by founder Rebecca Bast and formerly with Northwestern Mutual.
Bast and her six colleagues will add about $400 million in AUM to OnePoint BFG, which is backed by minority investor Rise Growth, further expanding the firm’s presence in Florida.
Founded by Bast, the firm serves business owners, executives and families with complex planning needs, including multigenerational wealth transfer. Bast formed the firm in 1994 with Northwestern Mutual, according to BrokerCheck.
“OnePoint BFG offers the best of both worlds: the freedom and flexibility of an independent firm, combined with the resources, technology and support we need to serve our clients at the highest level,” said Bast.
The deal is BFG’s third acquisition this year, including another former Northwestern Mutual team based in Minneapolis. BFG is majority-owned by employees and led by CEO Andy Schwartz.
Hightower Signature Wealth Adds $1.6B Boston Hill Advisors
Hightower Advisors, a Chicago-based hybrid RIA with more than $350 billion in client assets, announced that Boston Hill Advisors has joined Hightower Signature Wealth, the firm’s fully integrated national wealth management practice.
Founded in 2006, Boston Hill Advisors provides wealth management, investment solutions and financial planning to individuals, families and institutions. The practice oversees about $1.6 billion in AUM and has been a Hightower affiliate since 2023.
“Boston Hill Advisors is a strong addition to HTSW, with a talented team, extensive investment experience and a longstanding commitment to clients,” Hightower CEO Larry Restieri said in a statement. "As we continue to build HTSW as an integrated national practice, we are focused on bringing together teams that share our commitment to a highly personalized advisory approach.”
Boston Hill Advisors serves clients throughout the greater Boston area from offices in North Andover and Natick, Mass., both of which remain in place following the transaction. The practice has a staff of 18, including 11 advisors.
“Moving under HTSW positions our team for the future without changing the values that have guided us since day one,” wealth advisor and Managing Director Joseph Trainor said in a statement.
Following the closing in late August, Hightower Signature Wealth has more than $40 billion in AUM, more than 130 advisors and more than 30 locations nationwide. The RIA, which is majority-owned by private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners, said it expects to announce additional HTSW acquisitions throughout 2026.
Facts Only
* RFG Advisory merged WFA and Volare Wealth Advisors to form WFA Volare.
* WFA Volare manages over $750 million in client assets.
* RFG Advisory is based in Birmingham, Alabama, and manages nearly $9 billion in client assets.
* Wealthcare Advisory Partners added IAM Advisory, adding eight advisors and $550 million in AUM in Pennsylvania.
* OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners acquired Bast Financial Group, adding $400 million in AUM in Tampa, Florida.
* Boston Hill Advisors joined Hightower Signature Wealth.
* Boston Hill Advisors manages approximately $1.6 billion in AUM.
* Hightower Signature Wealth now has more than $40 billion in AUM.
* RFG Advisory is majority-owned by Long Ridge Equity Partners.
* Wealthcare Advisory Partners is owned by Sammons Financial Group.
* OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners is majority-owned by employees.
* Hightower Advisors is majority-owned by Thomas H. Lee Partners.
Executive Summary
The registered investment advisor (RIA) landscape is undergoing significant consolidation through a series of strategic mergers and acquisitions. RFG Advisory facilitated the creation of WFA Volare, combining two platform firms to manage $750 million, while Wealthcare Advisory Partners expanded its Pennsylvania presence by integrating IAM Advisory's $550 million in assets. Similarly, OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners increased its Florida footprint by acquiring Bast Financial Group, adding $400 million in AUM.
In a larger-scale move, Boston Hill Advisors transitioned from a Hightower affiliate to a fully integrated part of Hightower Signature Wealth, bringing $1.6 billion in assets to a practice that now exceeds $40 billion in AUM. These transactions highlight a trend of smaller firms seeking the scale, technology, and resources of larger platforms while often attempting to maintain brand identity or specialized client focuses, such as serving elite athletes or women in financial transition. The involvement of private equity firms like Long Ridge Equity Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners indicates a strong institutional drive toward industry aggregation.
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative is that the RIA industry is maturing, moving toward a "hub-and-spoke" model where specialized boutique advisors maintain client intimacy while leaning on institutional back-ends for operational efficiency. This allows advisors to focus on high-touch service while the parent platforms handle the escalating costs of compliance and technology.
However, the narrative relies heavily on "best of both worlds" rhetoric—a recurring phrase used by almost every acquiring and acquired entity. This framing suggests a seamless harmony between independence and corporate integration, while omitting the inherent tensions of private equity ownership. When firms are majority-owned by entities like Long Ridge or Thomas H. Lee Partners, the primary driver is rarely "getting better for clients," but rather the maximization of Enterprise Value (EV) through AUM aggregation and margin expansion.
The root cause is the financialization of wealth management. The shift from independent practices to PE-backed platforms transforms a relationship-based profession into a scalable asset class. While advisors gain resources, the second-order consequence is a potential drift toward standardized product offerings and a gradual erosion of the "independent" ethos they claim to preserve.
Patterns detected: none
Bridge Questions:
1. How does the transition from employee-owned to private-equity-owned leadership affect the fiduciary priority for the end client?
2. In a consolidated market, what happens to the competitive pricing of advisory fees when a few platforms control the majority of the infrastructure?
3. Does the "integrated national practice" model actually improve client outcomes, or does it primarily serve the exit strategy of the platform's investors?
Counterstrike Scan: An influence campaign pushing this narrative would use a "momentum" playbook, flooding trade publications with a series of small, positive-sounding deals to create an illusion of inevitable industry convergence, thereby pressuring remaining independents to sell before they are "left behind." This content follows a standard industry news format and does not exhibit the coordinated urgency or artificial consensus of a campaign.
Sentinel — Human
This text reads like a factual compilation of recent financial news releases; the tone and structure suggest standard, albeit dense, human journalistic aggregation rather than pure synthetic generation.