ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moneta, a 100% partner-owned registered investment advisor (RIA) firm headquartered in Missouri, announces a significant expansion to its geographic footprint with a deal to merge in the principals and clients of The Berry Group of Worcester, Massachusetts. This addition is expected to bring $625 million in assets under management and represents the firm's first presence in the Northeast.
While geographic expansion is part of Moneta's larger plan, the culmination of the deal speaks more to the match in philosophies between the two firms. The Berry Group Principals Sarah Berry and Michael Machnowski, CFP®, join Moneta's decision-making partnership group as part of the move.
“As a firm that has been owned exclusively by our partners and professional staff from the start, we are in the unique position to grow without private equity,” asserts Managing Partner and Chairman Eric Kittner. “Sarah and Mike are very much aligned with our emphasis on having true shared equity in growing the business. Our model supports the independent mindset in allowing advisors to remain owners of their businesses and, at the same time, leverage our network and resources to grow in ways they couldn't have on their own.”
Machnowski, who joined The Berry Group as part of a longer-term succession strategy with Sarah Berry, sees the consolidation into Moneta as a catalyst for his team's further growth as well as a natural progression of the professionalization of financial advice.
“Moneta offers an incredible platform to help us run our business and brings the stature of being a Top 10 independently owned RIA,” explains Machnowski. “It would take us years to build what they already have. By joining forces, we can focus even greater attention on our clients.”
Moneta's office footprint now includes Denver, Kansas City and the greater Boston area, in addition to St. Louis. The firm expects to grow methodically into other markets, where like-minded advisors who appreciate the concept of shared equity in a member-owned RIA express interest in joining.
“In aligning with Moneta, we wanted to be part of something that matched the experience our clients had when we went independent two years ago,” explains Berry. “At the same time, we wanted to protect our clients’ interests for the long term. By obtaining the resources and capabilities of Moneta, we’re very confident in our ability to meet both of those objectives.”
Moneta President and COO Keith Bowles adds, “We are thrilled to onboard The Berry Machnowski Team and their clients. They are culturally aligned and share the same entrepreneurial spirit that we built Moneta upon. While we have grown strictly organically for much of the firm’s history, we know that growing inorganically brings new talents, markets and further enhances our ‘best of breed’ practices to serve clients best.”
ABOUT MONETA
Moneta Group Investment Advisors, LLC is a registered investment advisor with nearly $24 billion in assets under management, headquartered in the Midwest. Barron’s ranked Moneta among the nation’s Top 10 Independent RIAs in 2018, 2019 and 2020 for its combination of quality and scale. InvestmentNews ranked Moneta as the nation’s second-largest fee-only RIA, with more than $20 billion in AUM in 2019 and 2020.
The firm consistently earns praise for the way it invests in and takes care of employees. In 2019, InvestmentNews ranked Moneta among the nation’s “Best Places to Work for Financial Advisers” for the second-straight year. In 2020, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch ranked Moneta among its “Top Workplaces” for the seventh-straight year and the St. Louis Business Journal named Moneta as one of its “Best Places to Work” for a sixth-straight year.
ABOUT THE BERRY GROUP
Managing Principals Sarah Berry and Michael Machnowski of The Berry Group now join Moneta as partners and together with their staff become “The Berry Machnowski Team” at Moneta. They bring with them nearly 450 clients and $625 million in AUM. Their offices will remain at One Mercantile St. #750, Worcester, MA.
Sarah Berry has been an advisor for 35-plus years, first with A.G. Edwards and Sons, and then its successor firms, Wachovia and Wells Fargo Advisors. At Wells Fargo, she and Michael Machnowski worked together for 10-plus years. In 2019, Berry and Machnowski partnered to create The Berry Group, an independent, fee-only registered investment advisor.
