Merit Financial Advisors buys $1.1B Moldenhauer & Associates in 12th deal of 2026

Merit Financial Advisors acquired Moldenhauer & Associates, the Orchard Park, N.Y., practice with about $1.1 billion for nearly 1,900 households, marking the Atlanta firm's 12th deal of 2026 and 63rd overall. Brett Moldenhauer and the practice's 12 employees will stay in the Orchard Park office, which becomes Merit's first base in the greater Buffalo market, InvestmentNews reported on Oct. 8.

Growth came mainly through referrals: the practice went from under $150 million when it first affiliated with Commonwealth Financial Network in 2016 to more than $1 billion, and expects about $100 million of new assets this year. Richard Moldenhauer, Brett's father, founded the business in life insurance and later turned it into a financial planning and wealth management firm.

Brett joined more than 20 years ago, and the multigenerational team works mostly with clients nearing retirement or already retired. Private Wealth Daily reported on Oct. 7 that the deal closed Sept. 25.

Moldenhauer is the 10th former Commonwealth team to join Merit, part of what this publication has described as the Commonwealth diaspora. Merit reported $32.92 billion in assets across more than 70 offices as of Sept. 12: $25.6 billion advisory, $2.5 billion brokerage, $3.02 billion in employer plans and $1.8 billion in ESOP assets.

Three advisors in their mid-to-late 30s have each been with the firm for more than a decade, and a fourth has been there more than four years. "As a business grows, succession and continuity become about much more than the individual owner," Brett Moldenhauer said. David Wahlen, Merit's executive vice president of strategic partners, said "succession does not have to mean exit," pointing to the team's "experienced next-generation team, strong organic growth and significant opportunity."

Merit has said it targets 15 deals this year; the Moldenhauer acquisition is its 12th, leaving three to complete in roughly three months.