The Colony Group, LLC today announced mergers with both Bridgewater Wealth & Financial Management, LLC and Blue Water Advisors, LLC. Through these mergers, Colony expands in the Washington, D.C. and NY metro areas, now with 10 offices and 140 professionals managing approximately $7.5 billion in assets under management.
Bridgewater Wealth, founded in 1996 by Ron Rubin, with offices in Bethesda and Easton, MD, manages $1 billion in assets for clients locally and nationally. Among the company's clients are a number of multigenerational families, professional athletes and entertainers, professionals and entrepreneurs. In September 2016, Bridgewater launched Her Wealth®, a brand empowering women with the financial confidence and resources needed to take control of their money and wealth. Colony will continue to invest in and support the growth of Her Wealth®.
The merger is a natural transition, as colleagues from the two firms have been collaborating for years as partner firms of Focus Financial Partners, LLC, a carefully selected partnership of over 50 leading independent, fiduciary wealth management and financial services firms in the United States and abroad.
"I have long admired The Colony Group and valued the sharing of expertise and vision by the leadership team of the firm," Rubin said. "I now look forward to combining the talents of our successful and innovative firms as we strive to deliver what we believe is the best set of solutions and a unique cultural experience for clients," added Rubin, now Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, Mid-Atlantic Region of The Colony Group.
Blue Water Advisors was founded by Max Haspel in 2001 and became a registered investment advisor in 2014, managing approximately $500 million of AUM for clients. The team specializes in serving successful business owners, corporate executives and women in transition through a clearly defined, comprehensive process that often includes close collaboration with the other trusted professionals of their clients.
"We carefully considered a range of attractive options, potential structures and how we could best position ourselves to deliver the high-touch, outcome-oriented experience our clients expect and deserve. I believe that the combination with Colony maximizes the potential to unleash the best version of what we can be for our clients. It will allow us to shift the operational, management and compliance responsibilities, and focus on the highest and best use of our time. I'm excited for our talented team to concentrate its energy even more efficiently and effectively on client advice and service, investment and wealth planning research and growth," said Max Haspel, now Managing Director and Senior Wealth Advisor of The Colony Group.
"Colony seeks merger partners that share our common client-centric values and enhance our expertise. Our conversations with prospective merger partners always revolve around a singular question, 'How does this improve our firm and what we offer our clients?'" said Michael Nathanson, Colony's Chairman & CEO. "We have found time and again that our merger partners add enormous benefits, starting with talent and specialized expertise, and including deeper investment, technological, operational, and other capabilities. We expect Bridgewater Wealth and Blue Water Advisors to enhance how we serve our clients."
"The Colony team joined Focus just over six years ago on a mission in pursuit of an extraordinary vision to be recognized as a leading financial advisory firm. Focus provides the support, financial capital and resources to help them realize their aspirations," said Rudy Adolf, Founder and CEO of Focus. "Colony has the right vision, team and model, and that, coupled with our resources will propel it to the next level of growth."
For more information, please contact: Lisa Poff, Chief Marketing Officerlpoff@thecolonygroup.com 240-482-2328.
About The Colony Group, LLC
The Colony Group is an independent, fee-only, financial advisory firm with approximately $7.5 billion in assets under management and approximately 140 employees as of January 1, 2018, with offices in Massachusetts, Florida, New York, Virginia, Colorado, and Maryland. Founded in 1986, The Colony Group provides high-net-worth individuals and families, corporate executives, athletes, professionals, entrepreneurs, and institutions with deep expertise that goes well beyond investment management and can encompass the full suite of wealth management services, including tax, estate, retirement and philanthropic planning, and cash and risk management. For more information, please visit http://www.thecolonygroup.com/
