CI Financial buys US$5.2-billion Portola Partners

CI Financial Corp. has acquired Menlo Park, Calif.-based Portola Partners, a Silicon Valley wealth management firm that manages US$5.2 billion for executives, tech company founders and ultra-high-net-worth clients.

Portola provides investment and wealth planning services, with a focus on tax and investment planning, estate planning and charitable giving.

“Portola has developed wide-ranging capabilities to address the multifaceted needs of ultra-high-net-worth families, from intellectually rigorous, endowment-style investment management to complex tax planning to a wide range of family office services,” said CI CEO Kurt MacAlpine in a release announcing the deal.

“The Portola team and model will be valuable in fostering the development of our ultra-high-net-worth offering across CI Private Wealth.”

Said Zack Herlick, co-managing partner at Portola in the release: “CI’s quality and scale will allow us to broaden and deepen the array of best-in-class services we offer to discerning families with sophisticated needs and wants.”

The firms didn’t disclose the deal’s terms. The transaction is the first for CI in the San Francisco Bay area. Following the completion of the Portola acquisition and other outstanding deals, CI’s U.S. wealth management assets are expected to reach approximately $103 billion (US$82 billion).

In August, CI Financial acquired Columbus, Ohio-based Budros, Ruhlin & Roe, Inc., a registered investment advisor firm with US$3.4 billion in assets.

Rudy Mezzetta

Rudy is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on tax, estate planning, industry news and more since 2005. Reach him at rudy@newcom.ca.