Coastal Bridge Advisors completes merger with Waddell, One Charles

Coastal Bridge Advisors has completed its strategic merger with Waddell & Associates and One Charles Private Wealth, creating a combined wealth management firm with more than $10 billion in assets under management and expanded advisory, technology and client service capabilities.

The unified firm, operating under the Coastal Bridge Advisors' name, brings together approximately 20 partners and 52 professionals across offices in Hingham, Massachusetts; Milford and Westport, Connecticut; Charlotte, North Carolina; Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Los Angeles, California.

The combined firm features an expanded, multi-regional leadership team. David Waddell, formerly CEO and chief investment strategist of W&A, serves as CBA’s chairman and chief investment strategist, alongside Kevin G. Burns, CBA’s founder and co-chairman; Jim Betzig, CEO; Mark Dupont, president; and Bill Loftus, chief revenue officer.

“It’s an exciting time in the evolution of Coastal Bridge Advisors,” said Burns. “I am honoured to welcome David as CBA’s new chairman and chief investment strategist. His market acumen and the incredible culture he and his firm have built over four decades are a perfect complement to ours. Together with Paul Squarcia, Erik Wallin and their team from One Charles Private Wealth, we are stronger on many levels. The entire firm focuses every day on building our clients’ proud legacies for generations of families to come. This combination affirms that commitment.”

“This is about getting better for our clients,” said Waddell. “We were never interested in growth for its own sake. What makes this opportunity different is that it allows us to preserve the values and personal service our clients expect, while adding broader planning intelligence, deeper investment capabilities and enhanced technology needed to serve them even more powerfully in the years ahead.”

“In our business, scale certainly matters,” said Dupont. “This combination brings together partners and team members whose wealth management experience and ability are incredibly difficult to assemble in today’s marketplace.”

“We’re proud to announce that Paul and Erik, founding partners of One Charles Private Wealth, have joined CBA as managing partner of our Florida office and managing partner of our Massachusetts office, respectively,” said Betzig. “Perry Green, former chief financial officer of W&A, joins as CBA’s chief planning officer, and Sean Gould, former W&A partner, joins as managing partner in the Tennessee region.”

The transition marks the retirement of two storied industry names: “Waddell & Associates,” a 40-year-old brand deeply rooted in family history, and “One Charles Private Wealth,” a Massachusetts brand known for its “circle of care” service model for over a decade. “Moving forward collectively under the Coastal Bridge Advisors banner reflects a vision for a bold, shared future while reflecting our commitment to preserving the culture, care and client relationships that have long defined all three of our firms,” said Squarcia.

Re-disseminated by Wealth and Society