Summit Financial Holdings, together with Merchant Investment Management, has acquired an equity stake in the wealth management arm of Meeder Investment Management (Meeder).
As part of the transaction, Meeder’s Wealth Management division will retain its branding and entire team, including its CFP, President Jason Click, and vice president Mike Saraullo.
Other team members include senior wealth advisor Mike Miller, senior wealth advisor Ryan Johnson, senior wealth coordinator Tricia McDermott and Wealth Coordinator Sara Story.
Meeder’s other businesses, including its Public Funds and Advisory Consulting divisions, are not included in the transaction and will be part of the independent company.
Meeder Wealth Management would benefit from Summit’s in-house platform, SummitVantage, which offers technology, value-added services, and support in operations and compliance.
The wealth management arm can also benefit from a team of professional strategy experts in financial planning, insurance and investments, said Summit.
Summit Financial Holdings CEO Stan Gregor said: “We’re thrilled to welcome the Meeder Wealth Management team, supporting them in the delivery of nearly frictionless advice.
“For these types of firms, which share a passion for growth while upholding a client-first mentality, Summit is a natural fit. We’re looking forward to empowering Meeder’s Wealth Management team for another fifty years of success.”
Merchant partner Rob Blevins said: “Our association with Meeder began on a note of mutual admiration and shared ambition, naturally evolving into this alliance. We’re excited to see Meeder Wealth Management soar to new heights with this partnership.”
According to Summit, Meeder Wealth Management has been offering personalised and comprehensive financial planning to its clients for more than 50 years.
It offers differentiated value-added services, including investment management services to high-net-worth clients, retirement plan solutions, and corporate investment solutions.
The business has nearly $400m in assets under management (AUM) and harnesses a wide range of investment disciplines to deliver advanced client service.
Meeder Investment Management president and CEO Bob Meeder said: “Having focused on the institutional side of our business, we needed to determine the future direction of our wealth management division.
“We considered several options: maintaining the status quo, investing to build it out ourselves, or finding partners to help elevate our wealth management business to become a national RIA.
“We decided to find the right partners, and selected Summit Financial and Merchant, and now believe we have established a world-class partnership with the objective of driving growth and transforming the business into a multibillion-dollar organisation.”
