In mid-october the registered invest-ment adviser community woke to the news that Edelman Financial Services, one of the largest independent RIAs in the U.S., had agreed to sell a majority interest to private equity giant Hellman & Friedman. The transaction, believed to be the biggest-ever private equity investment in a pure-play, fee-based RIA, signals rising interest in the space among institutional asset managers. "It secures both our future and direction for years to come, giving us the ability to execute our goal to reach millions of Americans with a partnership with an investor focused on the mass-affluent marketplace," says Ric Edelman, founder, chair and CEO of his eponymous Fairfax, Virginia-based firm, which manages about $15 billion in assets.
展开▼
