RFG Advisory oversees RIA merger to form $750M WFA Volare as consolidation builds across the independent channel

Against the backdrop of private equity-backed platform growth in wealth management, the independent RIA sector is consolidating at pace. RFG Advisory, the Birmingham, Alabama-based RIA platform approaching $9 billion in client assets, announced the merger of two affiliated firms, WFA and Volare Wealth Advisors, creating WFA Volare with more than $750 million in combined assets under management.

WFA was founded in 1997 in Louisiana. Volare, founded by Christine Wedell in 2022, built its practice around women navigating financial transitions. The merged firm fields a 16-person team and serves retirees, high-earning professionals, women in transition, and elite athletes and their families. "This was never about getting bigger. It was about getting better for our clients," said Dany Martin, partner and wealth advisor at WFA Volare.

Team additions include Matthew Johnson, recently arrived from LPL Financial, Chase Crump, identified as Louisiana's only NFL Players Association RIA, and wealth advisor Brandon Wilson, a former NFL athlete. RFG, majority-owned by Long Ridge Equity Partners, completed its first advisor-majority acquisition of a firm earlier this year when it absorbed RVA Wealth Management, which the company said will remain primarily a 1099 RIA platform. CEO Shannon Spotswood described the platform's purpose as giving advisors the freedom and resources to build stronger businesses while protecting what matters most to them and their clients.

Sector-wide activity

The RFG combination fits a pattern visible across several transactions announced in the same period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners, a West Chester, Pennsylvania hybrid RIA with $10 billion in assets under management and owned by Sammons Financial Group, said IAM Advisory has joined the firm, bringing eight advisors, five operations staff, and $550 million in assets. IAM Advisory, run by Joseph Parsons and his daughter Holly Parsons Jinks, will retain its brand and equity ownership through a revenue buy-down arrangement while drawing on Wealthcare's technology and operational resources.

Separately, OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners, a Parsippany, New Jersey firm carrying $18 billion in client assets and backed by minority investor Rise Growth, acquired Bast Financial Group of Tampa, Florida. Rebecca Bast, who established the firm in 1994 within Northwestern Mutual, and six colleagues will add approximately $400 million in assets to OnePoint BFG. The transaction is the firm's third acquisition this year, following another former Northwestern Mutual team based in Minneapolis.

Hightower Advisors, the Chicago-based hybrid RIA overseeing more than $350 billion in client assets, said Boston Hill Advisors has moved from affiliate status into Hightower Signature Wealth, the firm's integrated national practice. Boston Hill, founded in 2006 and managing approximately $1.6 billion, had been a Hightower affiliate since 2023. Following a late August closing, Hightower Signature Wealth reports more than $40 billion in assets, more than 130 advisors, and more than 30 locations nationwide. Hightower is majority-owned by Thomas H. Lee Partners and said it expects to announce additional Hightower Signature Wealth acquisitions throughout 2026.