Apella acquires $261M Blue Spark; Waverly acquires $151M MCS Family Wealth Advisors

Apella Wealth, a West Hartford, Conn.-based RIA with about $12.5 billion in assets under management, has acquired Blue Spark Capital Advisors, a $261 million firm with offices in New York City and Great Barrington, Mass.

The Blue Spark deal is Apella's 30th acquisition since its 2014 founding and its 19th since Wealth Partners Capital Group took a minority stake in 2021, according to a WealthManagement.com deal roundup. Subtracting the two figures leaves 11 deals across the seven years from the 2014 founding to WPCG's 2021 investment. Earlier this year Apella brought on roughly $2.6 billion in assets through three separate acquisitions, the roundup says.

Blue Spark was owned by founder and CEO Maura Griffin, according to its most recent Form ADV. She started at the firm in 2011 to work with individuals and families, and the announcement describes an emphasis on advising women through divorce, the loss of a spouse or partner, job changes and retirement. Griffin joins Apella as a partner and senior wealth advisor. Apella CEO Jim Scanlan said in a statement that Griffin "has built a highly respected firm grounded in thoughtful advice, strong client relationships, and a commitment to helping women make confident financial decisions."

Waverly Advisors, a Birmingham, Ala.-based RIA with $38.4 billion in client assets, has acquired MCS Family Wealth Advisors, a $151 million RIA with offices in Bend and Eugene, Ore.

MCS is Waverly's 37th acquisition since its minority investors took a stake in 2021, per the roundup. Those investors are WPCG and HGGC, through its Aspire Holdings platform. Waverly has added nearly $4 billion in new client assets this year, including, most recently, a $3.1 billion RIA that opened its first New Orleans office.

MCS was founded in 1991 by Michael Stalker, who held majority ownership of the firm through a family trust, according to its most recent Form ADV. Its advisors provide financial planning, retirement planning and investment management to high-net-worth individuals and families, according to the announcement.

Both deals are small against their buyers' assets. Blue Spark's $261 million is roughly 2% of Apella's $12.5 billion in assets under management, and MCS's $151 million is about 0.4% of Waverly's $38.4 billion in client assets. WPCG holds minority stakes in both acquirers, and the two platforms have announced 56 acquisitions between them since 2021, 19 at Apella and 37 at Waverly. At these sizes the deals read as tuck-ins that add clients and a footprint rather than scale purchases. Whether the pace says more about the buyers' capacity to absorb firms or their willingness to announce them is a question the counts alone do not answer.