Global Retirement Partners, LLC, a firm that CEO Bill Chetney says was built by advisors for advisors, has now been bought — by advisors.
A group of retirement plan advisory firms has announced their intentions to acquire Global Retirement Partners, LLC (GRP), a retirement plan consulting firm servicing more than 100 advisors. “We explored a number of options to help take GRP to the next level of growth, and these firms best represented the talent, innovation, and passion to accomplish what we had planned for the retirement planning space,” said Chetney.
Upon closing, GRP will retain its name and GRP’s management team will continue to manage day-to-day activities.
The initial firms participating in the acquisition are:
- EPIC Retirement Services Consulting, New York City
- Heffernan Financial Services, San Francisco
- MRP, Denver
- Oswald Financial, Inc. Cleveland
- Perennial Pension & Wealth, Roseville, CA
- Retirement and Benefits Partners, Slingerlands, NY
- StoneStreet Advisor Group, Pearl River, NY
- Washington Financial Group, McLean, VA
“We’re very pleased to be affiliated with a company [LPL Financial] with a long tenure in the retirement plan business and resources backed by a market cap of more than $4 billion,” said Joe DeNoyior, Managing Partner, Washington Financial Group. Chad Larsen, President & CEO, MRP, another of the participating firms, noted, “This acquisition represents the culmination of a strategic plan to ensure we continue to lead the industry in delivering value for both plan sponsors and participants. We want to be not only the best in the industry, but the best for the industry.”
Chetney described the list of firms as an “initial group” — and, sure enough, within an hour of our interview, another firm had been added to the list.
Established in 2014 as part of GRP’s acquisition of Financial Telesis, Inc. (FTI), GRP provides turnkey retirement plan infrastructure, compliance, commissioning and personnel to advisors who specialize in the retirement space. In addition, member firms will have access to an in-house former ERISA attorney, out-sourced quarterly due diligence reporting, and the GRP Advisor Alliance — a turnkey retirement plan advisor affiliate offering marketing, advertising, conferences, tools, financial wellness programs and investments.
The announcement, coming in the same week as the news of a joint RIA formation between CAPTRUST and Pensionmark, should make for a very interesting 401(k) Summit in San Diego!
