Newport Beach, Calif.-based RIA acquirer Beacon Pointe Advisors has made its first landing in Minnesota with the purchase of the $1 billion AUM firm Landmark Wealth Management, based in Lake Elmo.
The deal, which closed Tuesday, is the fifth acquisition that Beacon Pointe has announced this year. Earlier this month, the firm announced the acquisition of two other firms with $600 million and brought its total assets under advisement to $37 billion.
Landmark was in the past affiliated with Thrivent, the financial company that until the last decade was dedicated to serving Christian, specifically Lutheran, investors. The firm is based around the longtime partnership of Todd Gillingham and Gary Tangwell, both Thrivent veterans who had been working at Landmark in its various incarnations since the 1980s. (In the early 2010s, it was known as the Landmark Group of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.) Beacon Pointe refers to Landmark as a legacy firm and says it began operations in 1977.
According to its most recent Form ADV, Landmark is owned by Gillingham, Tangwall, Thomas Selbo, Jennifer Beyl-Lee, Chad Broberg and Bjorn Nesvold, all of whom will be joining Beacon Pointe as partners. Other team members joining Beacon Pointe include wealth advisors Cathy Jenson, John Levi, Kurt Haugen, Leah Brooks, Tammie Mark, and Jack McNamara.
John Underwood, who was listed as Landmark’s CFO and COO, is an incoming Beacon Pointe managing director. Underwood joined the Landmark team in 2019, according to his LinkedIn page.
“The Minnesota-based team is committed to excellence, providing comprehensive financial services and customized advice to a diverse group of clients, including individuals, families, business owners, and employees of Fortune 500 corporations, such as 3M, Lockheed Martin, Andersen Corporation, and more,” a Beacon Pointe press release said.
The Landmark team, Beacon Pointe added, “also works with many female investors, which aligns well with Beacon Pointe’s Women’s Advisory Institute initiative. Along with financial planning and investment management, Landmark supports its clientele with estate planning, tax strategy, and insurance needs.”
Landmark has three other offices besides the one in Lake Elmo—including spaces in Farmington, Minn.; Hudson, Wis.; and San Jose, Calif.
“Beacon Pointe is ready to embark on this exciting chapter and enter new U.S. territory with Landmark,” said Matt Cooper, Beacon Pointe’s president. “We’ve aimed to establish a more significant presence in the Midwest, and the Landmark team seamlessly met our objectives. Landmark’s culture, client diversity, and geographical presence fit very nicely with Beacon Pointe, and we look forward to amplifying the growth of their already incredible team.”
Just two weeks ago, Beacon Pointe said it had added Bridge Advisory, a 35-year-old Pasadena advisory that oversees $460 million in client assets, and Charleston Investment Advisors in Mt. Pleasant, S.C., a firm with $140 million in client assets.
