Financial Services Acquisitions in Massachusetts

Allworth Financial has acquired Needham, Massachusetts–based fiduciary advisory firm FSA Wealth Management, which oversees $460 million in assets under management. The deal brings six professionals (including five advisors and two managing partners) into Allworth's Greater Boston operation as the team transitions into Allworth's Waltham office to deepen the firm's up‑market advisory capabilities.

NB Bancorp, Inc. (Needham) completed the merger with Provident Bancorp, Inc. (BankProv), effective November 15, 2025, with Needham as the surviving entity. The transaction will convert BankProv products and branches to Needham Bank offerings and expands Needham's footprint in northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire.

Eastern Bankshares, Inc. completed the previously announced merger with HarborOne Bancorp, Inc., effective November 1, 2025. Under the merger agreement HarborOne shareholders received either Eastern stock (subject to proration) or cash, and Eastern issued approximately 26.94 million shares in connection with the transaction, expanding Eastern’s branch and commercial banking footprint in eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

Hometown Financial Group, Inc. has completed its acquisition of CFSB Bancorp, Inc., the bank holding company for Colonial Federal Savings Bank. Colonial Federal's four branches will operate as a division of North Shore Bank, expanding Hometown Financial Group's presence across eastern Massachusetts and the South Shore.

Waverly Advisors, a Birmingham-based registered investment adviser, has acquired Cape Cod-based Bridge Creek Capital Management. The acquisition, which closed October 31, 2025, brings roughly $447 million of AUM onto Waverly’s platform and expands the firm’s presence in Massachusetts as the entire Bridge Creek team joins Waverly.

Bold Penguin has acquired SquareRisk, a digital wholesale marketplace that connects retail brokers to specialty carriers and MGAs. The acquisition expands Bold Penguin's access to excess & surplus (E&S) and specialty markets and adds digital wholesale operations to its commercial insurance platform.

Allworth Financial, a national registered investment advisor backed by Lightyear Capital and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board, has acquired Norwood, Massachusetts-based Shorepoint Capital Partners, which manages approximately $850 million in assets. The deal brings Shorepoint’s 10-person team and expanded UHNW investment capabilities to Allworth as the firm cements its Boston presence and expands its alternative investment and advisory offerings.

Beacon Pointe Advisors has acquired Sensible Financial Planning, a Waltham, Massachusetts-based wealth management firm with approximately $944 million in AUM. The acquisition, which closed October 1, 2025, expands Beacon Pointe's Boston-area presence and brings the firm's total assets under advisement to roughly $54 billion while preserving Sensible Financial's team and offices.

Fiduciary Services Group (FSG) has acquired Beacon Benefits, a Beverly, Massachusetts–based third-party administrator (TPA), and will integrate the business into its DWC TPA platform. The deal expands FSG’s retirement services capabilities and adds a regional Boston-area office to support growth in plan administration and recordkeeping services.

Corient, a national wealth management firm, has acquired Breed's Hill Capital, a Boston-based multi-family office managing about $3.5 billion in assets. The deal expands Corient's presence in New England and enhances its capabilities serving ultra-high-net-worth families; terms were not disclosed.

Berkshire Hills Bancorp and Brookline Bancorp completed a merger of equals to form Beacon Financial Corporation, the parent of the newly branded Beacon Bank, headquartered in Boston. The combined regional bank has roughly $24 billion in assets, more than 145 branches across New England and New York, and expanded commercial, consumer, and wealth-management capabilities.

Penn‑America Underwriters, a subsidiary of Global Indemnity Group (NYSE: GBLI), has completed the acquisition of Sayata, an AI‑enabled digital distribution marketplace for commercial insurance. The deal is intended to expand Penn‑America's distribution, product portfolio, and technology capabilities to accelerate digital distribution and agency operations.

LPL Financial Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, has completed the acquisition of Commonwealth Financial Network, a wealth management firm that supports roughly 3,000 advisors and manages about $305 billion in assets. Commonwealth will operate as a wholly owned portfolio company while its advisors are onboarded to LPL's platform, and Commonwealth's CEO Wayne Bloom will continue to lead the business within LPL.

F2 Strategy, a Chicago-based wealth management technology and marketing services firm, has acquired Aliter Investment Services, a Boston-based professional services firm specializing in operations and technology transformation for investment managers and asset servicing providers. The acquisition establishes asset servicing as F2's third core vertical, expanding the firm's capabilities across pooled investment servicing and enhancing its strategic consulting and delivery across the financial services ecosystem.

Independent Bank Corp. (parent of Rockland Trust) completed its acquisition of Enterprise Bancorp, Inc., with legal closing effective July 1, 2025; Enterprise Bank has been merged into Rockland Trust and Enterprise Bancorp shareholders received a mix of Independent common stock and cash. The parties will convert core products and customer accounts over the weekend of October 11, 2025, and Enterprise founder George Duncan will serve in a consultative role for one year to support integration.

Mercer Global Advisors (Mercer Advisors) has acquired Waltham, Massachusetts–based O'Brien Wealth Partners, adding approximately $1.1 billion in client assets and a 14-person advisory team led by Jill Ann Fopiano. The deal deepens Mercer's Greater Boston footprint and provides the O'Brien team access to Mercer's broader family-office, tax and estate planning capabilities.

Osaic, a portfolio company of Reverence Capital Partners, has acquired Boston-based CW Advisors, a registered investment advisor managing roughly $13.5–14.5 billion in fee-only client assets. The deal (purchased from Audax Private Equity) expands Osaic’s scale and capabilities in the fee-only channel and high-net-worth / ultra-high-net-worth wealth management market while allowing CW Advisors to remain operationally independent.

Betterment has acquired Rowboat Advisors, a portfolio management software provider specializing in direct indexing, tax optimization, and personalized investing. The deal will integrate Rowboat’s technology into Betterment Advisor Solutions to accelerate capability delivery for RIAs, with full integration beginning in the second half of 2025 and direct indexing planned for 2026.

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of OneDigital, has acquired BoliColi, an independent executive and director benefits consulting firm based in Reading, Massachusetts. The acquisition expands OneDigital's Executive Benefits capabilities and strengthens its reach in the East Region to better serve banks, corporations and other institutional clients.

Aspen Standard Wealth has acquired New England Private Wealth Advisors (NEPWA), a Wellesley/Boston-based fee-only RIA with $2.9 billion in assets under management as of 12/31/2024. The deal brings NEPWA onto Aspen’s perpetual RIA platform to support growth while preserving NEPWA’s brand and client-focused advisory model.

Waverly Advisors, a Birmingham-based RIA backed by Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC's Aspire Holdings, has acquired Boston-based NBW Capital, adding approximately $500 million of AUM and expanding Waverly into Massachusetts. The entire NBW team will join Waverly (except Ben Niedermeyer, who is retiring); the transaction closed on March 28, 2025 and is intended to bolster Waverly's equity strategy management capabilities.

Rise Growth Partners acquired a strategic minority stake in Grimes & Company, a family-owned wealth management firm with about $5.7 billion AUM that serves ~3,000 households. The investment — supported by a strategic commitment from Charlesbank Capital Partners to Rise — is intended to accelerate Grimes' geographic expansion, enhance its centralized planning capabilities and attract growth-focused advisor teams while preserving the firm's independence and culture.

Apella Wealth, a West Hartford, Connecticut–based registered investment advisor, has acquired Barker Financial Group, Inc., an RIA based in Topsfield, Massachusetts that brings $218 million in AUM. The add-on deal, Apella's nineteenth and its eighth since partnering with Wealth Partners Capital Group, closed on December 6, 2024 and establishes Apella's presence in Topsfield while expanding its regional financial planning and investment management capabilities.

Stout, a global advisory firm, has acquired DebtX Analytics, a Boston-based provider of loan valuation, stress testing, and CECL analytics. The deal brings 13 DebtX Analytics employees into Stout and expands Stout's capabilities in loan portfolio valuation and regulatory stress testing for banks, insurers, private equity and government clients.

Hometown Financial Group and North Shore Bank completed the merger of Abington Bank into North Shore Bank, creating a combined community-bank franchise with more than $3 billion in assets and 25 branches across eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. The transaction consolidates Abington Bank as a division of North Shore Bank, expands Hometown Financial Group's scale and branch network, and enables enhanced digital banking, mortgage capability, and lending capacity.

Ares Management Corporation has acquired Riverside Credit Solutions (RCS), an affiliated fund and lower‑middle‑market direct lending team of The Riverside Company. The Boston‑based RCS team and capabilities will be integrated into Ares' U.S. Direct Lending platform to expand coverage of cash‑flow‑based lending to lower‑middle‑market, PE‑sponsored and non‑sponsored businesses.

San Diego-based AlphaTrAI has acquired Plymouth, Massachusetts-based Anchor Advisory Services, a scheduling and sales management solutions provider for the wealth and asset management industry. The deal will integrate AlphaTrAI's AI-driven technology with Anchor's outsourced internal wholesaling and scheduling capabilities to enhance client experience and drive national growth; terms were not disclosed.

Santa Barbara-based World Investment Advisors, a subsidiary of World Insurance Associates, has acquired Boston Harbor Wealth Advisors, an independent financial advisory firm based in Westborough, Massachusetts. The deal brings more than $3.5 billion in AUM, 76 team members and 15 offices into World’s platform as part of its ongoing RIA roll-up and AUM growth strategy.

Wealth Enhancement Group, a national independent wealth management firm, has acquired Peak Financial Services, Inc., a hybrid RIA based in Northborough, Massachusetts that oversees more than $123 million in client assets. The deal expands Wealth Enhancement Group's presence in Massachusetts and the Northeast and brings Peak Financial's founder Kevin O'Brien and his team onto Wealth Enhancement's platform.

Victory Capital has reached a definitive agreement to combine Amundi's US business (formerly Pioneer Investments) into its platform in exchange for Amundi receiving a 26.1% economic stake in Victory Capital. The deal includes reciprocal 15-year distribution agreements, aims to broaden product offerings and global distribution, and is expected to deliver meaningful cost synergies and near-term EPS accretion.

Boston-based CW Advisors (CWA), a PE-backed registered investment advisor, has acquired Cubic Asset Management, an independent Boston-based account management firm, adding over $700 million of AUM to CWA. The deal is an add-on to CWA's platform (which is partnered with Audax Private Equity) and is intended to expand CWA's investment capabilities and client servicing for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

BlackRock has made a minority investment in Willow Network, a wealthtech startup that provides education, coaching and a digital marketing platform for financial advisors. The funding will support Willow's launch of two certificate programs — Advisor for Women and Advisor for NextGen — and BlackRock has taken a board seat as part of the transaction; financial terms were not disclosed.

Beyond Risk Topco Holdings, LP LLC (Beyond Risk) has acquired SL Management Partners, a Massachusetts-based medical stop loss managing general underwriter and claims services provider. The acquisition expands Beyond Risk’s employee benefits and medical stop loss (MSL) capabilities and adds underwriting and claims services to its alternative risk solutions platform, providing SL Management Partners with strategic, operational and distribution support.

The Carlyle Group, via its Credit Strategic Solutions team, acquired a $415 million private student loan portfolio and made a strategic investment in Monogram LLC to partner on originating, acquiring and managing private student loan assets. Monogram — led by the former Cognition Financial management team and headquartered in Boston — will leverage Carlyle's capital to expand its origination, servicing and portfolio management capabilities.

Wealth Enhancement Group, a national independent wealth management firm, has acquired Asset Management Resources, LLC, an independent RIA led by J. Christopher Boyd based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The acquired team brings approximately $236 million in assets under management and will expand Wealth Enhancement Group's presence in Massachusetts to four offices.

Webster Financial Corporation, through its principal bank subsidiary Webster Bank, N.A., signed a definitive agreement to acquire Ametros Financial Corp from funds managed by Long Ridge Equity Partners for $350 million in cash. The acquisition brings Ametros' $804 million in deposits under custody and over 24,000 members to Webster, enhancing the bank's healthcare financial services capabilities and providing a low-cost, long-duration deposit base.

Edelman Financial Engines (EFE) has acquired PRW Wealth Management, a Quincy, Massachusetts–based Registered Investment Advisor managing over $500 million in AUM for roughly 200 clients. The deal expands EFE’s wealth planning capabilities and local presence in the greater Boston area as part of the firm’s ongoing acquisition-driven growth strategy.

BitGo Holdings, Inc. has acquired HeightZero, a turnkey digital asset management platform (TDAMP) for wealth managers and RIAs. The deal integrates HeightZero’s advisor-focused platform with BitGo’s institutional-grade custody and wallet infrastructure to offer a secure, scalable solution for advisors and asset managers seeking digital asset exposure.

Delta Data, a Terminus Capital Partners company, has acquired National Quality Review (NQR) to expand its pooled asset and mutual fund software suite with NQR's third-party oversight and benchmarking services. The acquisition integrates NQR's transfer agent, intermediary, and service provider insight offerings into Delta Data's Asset Management Suite, strengthening its capabilities for major US asset managers.

Sequoia Financial Group, an Akron, Ohio–based SEC-registered wealth manager with nearly $16 billion in AUM, has agreed to acquire Affinia Financial Group, a Burlington, Massachusetts wealth manager that specializes in special needs financial planning and manages about $418 million in AUM. The transaction is expected to close in August 2023; financial terms were not disclosed. Sequoia said the acquisition will expand its specialized planning capabilities and give Affinia clients access to broader investment opportunities and Sequoia's platform and resources.

Onboard Partners, LLC has acquired the Payvus small-business credit card issuing and capital management business from Aliaswire. The deal transfers Payvus’s platform, technology and IP to Onboard to expand its financial services advisory, marketing and portfolio management capabilities for the underserved SMB market.

Asydan Capital Management has merged with Kestrel Merchant Partners and will rebrand as Caydan Capital Partners. The merger combines private equity and merchant banking expertise to expand the firm’s capabilities in capital raising, strategic planning, and operational improvement while continuing to focus on lower middle market investments.

Audax Private Equity completed a strategic recapitalization of Congress Wealth Management, partnering with management as CI Financial sold its stake. Bain Capital Credit provided a senior credit facility to support Audax's investment; the transaction will support Congress' organic growth and buy‑and‑build expansion of its wealth management platform, which manages over $5 billion in client assets and serves roughly 2,300 HNW and family office clients.

Integrum has made a strategic investment in Strategic Risk Solutions (SRS), the world's largest independent insurance company manager, to support SRS's geographic expansion, service offering growth, and pursuit of strategic acquisitions and partnerships. SRS's CEO Brady Young and the current management team will remain in place; the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) has agreed to acquire Acadia, a provider of automated uncleared margin processing and integrated risk, margining and collateral optimisation services for the global derivatives community. The deal brings Acadia into LSEG's Post Trade division to strengthen its uncleared derivatives capabilities; terms were not disclosed and the transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

VettaFi has acquired Advisor Perspectives, the leading digital publisher and newsletter platform serving registered investment advisors, wealth managers, and financial planners. The acquisition expands VettaFi’s content, advisor database and distribution capabilities as part of its strategy to grow its data, analytics and digital distribution footprint in the financial-advisor market.

Virtus Investment Partners agreed to acquire AlphaSimplex Group, a quantitative/alternative investment manager, from Natixis Investment Managers and completed the transaction on April 1, 2023. The deal brings AlphaSimplex's systematic alternative strategies and ~$8.3 billion of AUM into Virtus' multi-boutique platform to expand its alternative capabilities and distribution reach.

CAPTRUST Financial Advisors acquired Massachusetts-based Patriot Pension Advisors, a retirement-plan specialist that oversees roughly $900 million in client assets. MidCap Advisors served as Patriot Pension Advisors' exclusive financial advisor; Patriot's leaders Ted Burke and Michelle Marchionni will continue to run the business as CAPTRUST expands its Northeast footprint.

Funds managed by Stone Point Capital have completed the acquisition of all issued and outstanding equity interests in ECN Kessler Holdco LLC (the Kessler Group) from ECN Capital. ECN Capital said it will use the net proceeds to pay down debt and redeploy capital to accelerate tuck-in acquisitions in its prime marine and RV financing business.

SRM (Strategic Resource Management) has acquired Sievewright & Associates, a Boston-based credit union consulting firm. The acquisition expands SRM's advisory offerings to credit unions by adding strategic planning services and Sievewright's proprietary DIGITALMAPS program, with founder Mark Sievewright continuing to lead the business within SRM.