Transactions

Park Sutton advises AJ Wealth, a $2.5 billion multi-family office on its merger with Cerity Partners

Park Sutton Advisors, A Waller Helms Company (“Park Sutton Advisors”) is pleased to have represented AJ Wealth ("AJ") on its merger with Cerity Partners ("Cerity"), a leading registered investment adviser ("RIA") with over $65 billion in assets under management (“AUM”) and headquartered in New York, NY. Founded in 2012 by Andrew Cooper and Justyn Volesko, AJ is a prominent multi-family office servicing ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) individuals with significant expertise working with partners and founders of hedge funds, private equity and venture capital firms, business owners, and C-suite executives. The combination adds more than 40 employees to the Cerity Partners team and a unique area of expertise in complex estate and tax planning issues for clients with carried interests in their firm’s investment funds.

Cerity Partners President and CEO Kurt Miscinski sees the combination with AJ as an accelerant to the firm’s growth in working with exceptionally wealthy individuals and families. “We are excited to welcome our colleagues from AJ. Their highly customized family office service is unique in our industry. Our merger allows us to broaden the depth of our service offering and will accelerate our firm’s growth in an important and expanding client segment,” Miscinski says.

Cooper, Volesko, and their colleagues are excited to advance the Cerity Partners Family Office efforts. “Partnering with Cerity Partners is a natural evolution of our firm. From our time working with Goldman Sachs partners within the Goldman Sachs Family Office to the founding of AJ Wealth, we have constantly sought to exceed client expectations and provide the highest level of service in the industry in addition to the most creative and sophisticated planning,” said Cooper.

The transaction was co-led by Steven Levitt, Dan Erichson, and Donald Schipf of Park Sutton Advisors, a Waller Helms Company. Steven Levitt, Managing Director and Founder said, “By almost any measure, AJ is one of the finest advisory firms with whom we have worked. We continue to see strong interest in 2023 for top-quality firms with unique expertise and client niches such as UHNW.”

Managing Director, Dan Erichson added, “I first met Andrew Cooper and Justyn Volesko in 2017. It has been a pleasure developing a relationship with them over the years and I am so thrilled to see them find a partner that can continue to help the business along its amazing trajectory.”