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From left to right: Robin O’Sullivan, Ray Olson Jr. and Amanda Jewell. Photos courtesy Ray Olson
October turned out to be a busy month for ownership changes at local financial management firms.
Richmond-based Ray Olson Family Financial Planning announced recently that it was acquired by Bluespring Wealth Partners out of Austin, Texas.
The deal brings Olson’s team of three and around $300 million in client assets to the larger Bluespring, as the firm’s seventh completed acquisition this year.
Ray Olson Jr., president of his eponymous firm, told BizSense that the acquisition gives his firm the ability to spend more time with its clients in lieu of working on back-office tasks.
“As you grow and continue to grow and succeed, you need help,” Olson said. “They take all of the HR, the payroll, all of that stuff off our plate, so we can help and spend more time with our clients.”
The deal closed on Oct. 1. Terms were not disclosed. It was one of two deals to close that month involving the sale of a local investment advisory firm. The other was Henrico-based firm Summit Financial Partners‘ sale to Strathmore Capital Advisors from Charlotte, North Carolina.
Olson, 62, started his career as a CPA at PwC in the late 1980s, later working in finance at Philip Morris throughout the 1990s. He joined his father’s firm in 1999, and became owner in 2009, renaming it Ray Olson Family Financial Planning.
The firm provides wealth management services like tax, investment and estate planning out of its office in the Bookbindery building at 2201 W. Broad St.
Olson’s firm serves mostly families, with about 265 households on its client roster.
Olson said that as an independent firm with a small staff that is continuing to grow its client list, he began recently to shop the company around to a larger acquirer who would be able to help with tasks on the business side.
His search landed on Bluespring, a subsidiary of Kestra Financial. Olson has used Kestra as his firm’s clearing broker since 2016. That gave him a familiarity with Bluespring, and Olson said he was also drawn to the fact that Bluespring wanted to maintain Olson’s name and office for the time being.
Ray Olson
“They do not want to mess with the secret sauce. Firm identity and brand remain,” Olson said. “What they can do is let us run the firm the way we always have, and they have a much more intentional succession plan.”
Olson said Bluespring will help with sourcing and training new talent. He said he hopes to bring on a few more advisors to the team, potentially including both a more senior and a junior advisor.
Bluespring may also help with a name change in the next few years to make it less branded specially to Olson. He said Bluespring could also potentially tuck the Olson firm in under a larger, more regional firm, possibly in Northern Virginia, sometime in the next few years to help continue to grow its resources.
Some other Bluespring owned firms in Northern Virginia include Reston-based Curo Private Wealth and Herndon-based Hughes Financial Services.
“That could happen, but I get to select who that would be if we tuck in under another firm,” he said.
Olson’s firm currently has a team of three, including himself, marketing and events coordinator Robin O’Sullivan and director of first impressions Amanda Jewell. The firm previously had another wealth advisor who resigned during the acquisition, Olson said.
With the adding backing from Bluespring, Olson said he hopes his firm can reach $500 million in client assets under management in the next five years, with a long-term goal of bringing it to a billion-dollar firm in the next decade or so.
“Bluespring doesn’t want small firms, they want firms that are hitting their stride and are in super growth mode,” he said.
Bluespring was founded in 2019 by Kestra Financial as a new business focused on acquiring experienced investment adviser and wealth management firms. Between its multiple entities, Kestra Financial has over $70 billion in assets under management, per the company website.