Lido Advisors is acquiring Exchange Capital Management, an $830 million independent fee-only firm based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
It’s the $29 billion Los Angeles-based Lido’s latest deal in a year-long acquisition tear following a minority stake by Constellation Wealth in January 2024.
Exchange Capital Management’s 13 employees, including CEO Michael Reid and Senior Investment Advisor Kevin McVeigh, will join Lido. DeVoe & Co. operated as the firm’s sole advisor in the deal.
In an interview with WealthManagement.com, Lido Chief Growth Officer Jordan Greenhouse said the deal was in the works for a while, and Lido was excited to make inroads in Ann Arbor and broader Michigan.
“We’ve got good coverage around the Midwest, but Michigan-specific, we did not have direct coverage for,” he said. “So it was very opportunistic.”
Greenhouse also noted the benefit of having a “highly educated environment” with the University of Michigan based in Ann Arbor, which opens up “additional avenues for future opportunity.”
“I’d even go so far as to say that, you look at regions outside of Ann Arbor as well, there are a lot of geographical opportunities to expand and explore different networks to build the Lido footprint in that marketplace,” he said.
Lido Advisors was founded in 1999, with more than 4,700 clients serviced by about 130 advisors through 40 offices nationwide. The firm offers financial planning and investment management.
In 2024, Lido became the third firm to sell a minority stake to Constellation Wealth Capital, a private equity company founded by former Emigrant Partners CEO Karl Heckenberg. Lido is also backed by majority owner Charlesbank Capital Partners, which staked the RIA in 2021.
Since the Constellation stake, Lido bought Pegasus Partners, a Wisconsin-based RIA managing $3 billion in assets, and the Los Angeles-based $1.1 billion firm Avitas Wealth Management.
Last month, the firm acquired Copperwynd Financial, a $720 million Arizona-based RIA working with clients throughout the Southwest (the deal established Lido offices in Scottsdale, Ariz. and Salt Lake City for the first time).
According to Greenhouse, while talent always comes first, Lido was looking to the Northeast and New England, hoping to find more offices to establish its presence further. Additionally, he felt the firm was “well-staffed” to handle the ongoing integrations of large firms.
“The way we really think about it is, do we think the opportunity is accretive on both sides of the business? And if that’s the case, we want to act on it, but there’s no degree of urgency or feeling that we have to,” he said. “We’re in a great position right now to sit back and say, if we think it’s the right fit, let’s act on it, partner together and look for that multiplier effect. But I don’t think there’s a need to slow down if we uncover the right opportunity.”