CI Financial Buying $5B California RIA

What You Need to Know

The purchase of Corient is CI’s first acquisition of 2022.
This represents the 31st transaction of a U.S.-based firm since CI entered the U.S. wealth management space in late 2019.
CI is building a national network of RIAs focused on wealthy and ultra-wealthy clients.

CI Financial is acquiring Corient Capital Partners, a Newport Beach, California-based RIA overseeing $5 billion in assets on behalf of ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families across the U.S., CI said on Tuesday.

The purchase is CI’s first acquisition of 2022 and 31st deal with a U.S.-based firm since it entered the U.S. wealth management space at the end of 2019, it said.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, according to CI. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Upon completion of the transaction, Corient will join CI Private Wealth’s growing national network of high-net-worth and UHNW focused RIAs.

“Corient will retain its current name and continue to operate the business as usual,” a CI Financial spokesperson told ThinkAdvisor. “Over time, Corient will take on the branding of CI Private Wealth. This is done on a case-by-case basis. There is no timeline for the completion of this process.”

The acquisition is expected to increase assets in CI’s U.S. Wealth Management segment to about $125 billion.

Factoring in the completion of other outstanding transactions, CI’s total assets under management and advisement globally are expected to hit about $311 billion, it said. CI managed and advised on about $304 billion in client assets as of Dec. 31, it said.

Corient was founded in 2015 and “delivers a client-focused, comprehensive wealth management service that aligns precisely with the vision of CI Private Wealth,” according to CI. The California RIA “combines a holistic” advisory business model with an alternative investments platform that Ci said was “designed to meet client needs in all areas of wealth and investment management,” Ci said.