$8.5B AlphaCore Adds a $1B Colorado-based RIA
AlphaCore Wealth Advisory, a La Jolla, Calif.-based, alternatives-focused RIA managing about $10 billion, has added Elk River Wealth Management, a Cherry Creek, Colo.-based RIA overseeing about $1 billion in assets.
Elk River is led by CEO and CIO Chris Freimuth and includes Senior Wealth Advisor Brooks Merrifield and Financial Planner Corey Gragg, along with four other staffers.
“Adding the team at Elk River is strategically aligned with our plans to expand our Denver, Cherry Creek [and] Arizona exposure and talent base,” said AlphaCore founder and CEO Dick Pfister. “Chris Freimuth will become a managing partner, giving our team the leadership capabilities needed in the area.”
Elk River’s leadership and next-generation team will receive equity in AlphaCore, Pfister said, calling it a “critical component of the deal structures we utilize at AlphaCore, which keeps us in alignment.”
Freimuth founded Elk River in 2020 after being president and CIO of CoBiz Wealth, which was acquired by BOK Financial in 2019, and where Freimuth worked with Howard Alexandar, who is now Elk River’s chairman emeritus.
Following the close of the transaction, AlphaCore will have a team of more than 120 working across investment advice, tax strategy and preparation, risk management, trust and estate review, family governance and philanthropic planning.
Pfister said the Elk River team already had some private-market exposure for clients, but would be “leaning on our extensive research team and platform to widen diversification.”
Elk River is AlphaCore’s third Colorado-based acquisition in the past few years, having previously acquired Johnston & Associates and All Season Financial. AlphaCore’s M&A work is led by head of corporate development Aidan Walsh, who joined in 2024.
Pfister said he anticipates more acquisitions this year, with a focus on family office services.
AlphaCore is majority-owned by Pfister and employees, with a minority investor, Constellation Wealth Capital.