Mercer Global Advisors, one of the nation’s largest and most acquisitive registered investment advisors with $70 billion in assets, has hired Ted Motheral as principal of M&A partner development. Motheral joins from Potomac Law Group, where he was a corporate and M&A partner.
He will serve alongside Martine Lellis, who was promoted into the same role in May. That position was created out of a need to handle the firm’s growing pipeline of RIA acquisition targets. In October, Lellis also took over the responsibilities from Dave Barton, vice chairman of M&A at Mercer, who retired to focus on an ongoing health issue.
“When we were restructuring the team more broadly after Dave Barton’s exit—I call Dave Barton a great ‘one-man-band’—and our vision was to build an orchestra,” Mercer CEO Dave Welling said. “Ted’s going to be a big part of that in leading the team and guiding the team.”
Motheral has more than 20 years of experience as an attorney, having advised over 100 advisory and wealth management firms on M&A transactions and growth initiatives.
“Ted has built a reputation as a skilled M&A practitioner with an impressive track record of guiding wealth management firms through complex transactions,” Welling said in a statement. “Ted having provided counsel to so many sellers is really valuable. They’re putting their life’s work in our hands when they make this decision, and every one of these firms has an impact on our culture and an impact on our business. We want to make sure we get it right for all the folks involved.”
The partner development team consists of over 10 employees, including five vice presidents that work in different parts of the country.
Mercer has been one of the most active acquirers in the RIA space over the last several years. In 2024, the company completed 13 deals, Welling said, and its volume has averaged in the mid-teens every year since 2021. The firm has done nearly 100 deals since 2016.
“We’re not interested in just getting a transaction done,” Welling said. “We’re interested in forming partnerships. These people are going to be our roommates and colleagues after, so we want to get it right.”
This represents Mercer’s fourth key hire in the past year. Last month, the firm added Alisa Maute, a former LPL executive, as executive managing director and head of client development, a newly created role. Maute leads the team dedicated to identifying prospective clients, determining whether Mercer is a good fit for those families and matching them to the right advisor within the firm.
Last February, the firm brought on Gün Keresteci as chief financial officer. He joined from McKinsey & Company, where he was global head of finance.
In September, the RIA hired Elizabeth Hioe, another former McKinsey executive, as its new chief people officer.
Early last year, the firm added five new five executives to fill out its M&A partner development and integration teams. These executives were all tasked with bolstering the firm’s inorganic growth strategies.