Seattle’s Laird Norton in second merger since 2020

The combination of Seattle-based Laird Norton and San Francisco-based Wetherby Asset Management creates a firm with $15 billion in client assets.

Two West Coast registered investment advisers, Laird Norton Wealth Management and Wetherby Asset Management, said Monday that they had merged, creating a new firm with $15 billion in client assets.

The RIA industry has seen almost a decade of record-setting mergers and acquisitions, and 2022 dealmaking is starting to sizzle.

Laird Norton is based in Seattle and Wetherby is based in San Francisco. Terms of the deal were not released in the statement from the companies, but the combination was characterized as a “strategic investment” by Laird Norton.

This isn’t Laird’s first merger. In late 2020, the firm said it was merging with another Seattle RIA, Filament.

Kristen P. Bauer, Laird Norton’s CEO, will serve as CEO of the combined firms, the companies said. Debra Wetherby will remain managing partner of Wetherby Asset Management and serve on an expanded board of directors at the new company.

The company, which is owned by a combination of family and employees, will retain both the Laird Norton Wealth Management and Wetherby Asset Management names and will continue to serve high- and ultra-high-net worth families, the companies said. Wetherby clients will have the option of having trusts administered through Laird Norton.

Wetherby was founded in 1990 and Laird Norton in 1967.

[More: Rich clients get more ‘S’ options at $8 billion firm]