narayan
Merit Financial Advisors, an acquisitive registered investment advisor based in Atlanta, is looking to bolster both inorganic and organic growth through an acquisition announced Tuesday.
In terms of inorganic growth, Merit has acquired SSC Wealth, the $260 million financial advice team of SSC CPAs + Advisors, a Topeka, Kan.-based accounting firm. That deal will see four advisors join Merit, including Bert Falley and Michele Hammann, the latter of whom will become a regional vice president and partner at Merit while continuing in a role as chief strategy officer of SSC CPA + Advisors.
Hammann, who joined SSC as a vice president in 2005, will assist with the organic growth side of the acquisition by supporting “referral collaboration and joint client engagement” between the firms.
“This is not a traditional acquisition,” Rick Kent, CEO of Merit, said in a statement. “This is about organic growth, differentiation and doing what’s best for clients. … Rather than bringing our tax services exclusively in-house, we are also partnering with one of the most respected CPA firms in the country so our clients can benefit from their expertise.”
RIAs and CPAs have been leveraging informal and formal referral relationships for years. But more recently, both large and smaller RIAs have been bringing CPA services in-house. Large national RIA Mercer Global Advisors, for instance, has brought tax strategy and preparation in-house through acquisitions, including a $1 billion team late last year. On the smaller side, $2 billion RIA Moneco Advisors completed a merger that seeded its launch of Moneco Tax.
According to a recent Wealth Management survey of 241 RIA executives, 57% said they offer tax planning to clients, and 22% said they offer tax preparation.
SSC Wealth, established in 2008, primarily works with high-net-worth individuals and business owners, providing tax strategy and business valuation services. It has historically worked with SSC CPAs + Advisor tax clients.
SSC CPAs + Advisors, which will now partner with Merit, has 95 people working across tax planning, business succession strategies and accounting services. Merit clients will be given access to SSC’s tax planning and business advisory services, and SSC’s clients will, in turn, be given the option of working with Merit’s wealth managers.
Brian Lang, CEO of SSC CPAs + Advisors, said in a statement that the relationship “will strengthen our ability to support clients with deeper wealth management expertise and broader capabilities.”
This is Merit’s first acquisition of 2026, but its 53rd since its founding in 1998.
SSC CPAs + Advisors will remain a 100% employee-owned firm, as it has been since its founding in 1984.
Merit is also employee-owned, but has had a minority investor since 2019. Last year, Constellation Wealth Capital bought out that initial stakeholder, Wealth Partners Capital Group and a group of investors led by HGGC’s Aspire Holdings.
