Mission Wealth, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based registered investment advisory firm managing around $5 billion in client assets, announced Tuesday it has merged in a trio from Brooks, Hughes & Jones.
BHJ Wealth Advisors—with headquarters in Gig Harbor, Wash., and more than $180 million in assets under management—represents the third firm Mission has integrated in 2023, after adding a $100 million AUM Arizona practice in February and an Austin-based mother-daughter team from Per Sterling in April.
The latest deal brings Mission to 32 locations in 16 states across the United States, with two in the state of Washington, strengthening its presence in the Pacific Northwest.
Gary Brooks joins Mission as a partner and senior wealth advisor, Allyn Hughes steps into the role of director of risk management and Herb Gebhart is now a senior wealth advisor associate at the firm.
“Gary, Allyn and Herb each bring unique skills and expertise that reinforce our ongoing commitment to providing industry-leading services to an ever-expanding client base,” Mission President Dennell Stuart said in a statement. “Together, we are better equipped to serve more families across the United States.”
“I had a long list of preferences for how advisory firms should be positioned to do important work in the best interests of clients," Brooks said. "We evaluated several opportunities. Mission Wealth had the strongest combination of high integrity, robust services for clients and conflict-free independence."
Founded in 2000, Mission employs 97 professionals—including 19 partners—providing customized service across wealth, investment, risk, tax, trust and estate and philanthropic planning to more than 2,300 clients in 37 states. The firm is owned by a total of 29 limited partners, according to an SEC filing, with Mission Wealth Management LLC, as general partner.
Seth Streeter, Mission’s founder and chief impact officer, told Michael Kitces on his podcast last summer that the firm’s acquisition model is more of an “acquihire,” under which the firm is adding talent through the M&A process, with a goal of also expanding ownership to top, growth-oriented employees.
Mission brought trust services in-house, in a move announced in March, and has implemented community outreach and scholarship programs through the CFP Board in a bid to further accelerate the firm’s growth.
“We definitely have clear plans as far as where the firm is going,” he told Kitces. “We want to be kind of thought leaders in these areas of impact with more values-based planning, values-based investing, doing community work.”
Streeter said he expects to reach $30 billion in assets by the end of the decade.