Mercer Advisors Bolsters Creative Wealth Offering with Singer Burke Acquisition

Mercer Advisors has taken a major step into the creative sector by bringing Singer Burke, a storied Los Angeles wealth-management and business-management firm, into its fold. With over 60 professionals and a 50-year track record catering to executives in media, entertainment, and creative fields, Singer Burke enhances Mercer’s ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) platform, particularly within its Regis Group, while launching a specialized practice for creative professionals.

Deal Summary

Acquirer: Mercer Advisors, a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) with more than $80 billion in client assets.

Target: Singer Burke, composed of two entities:

• SB Capital Management, Inc.: a $1.2 billion RIA focused on investment and wealth planning.
• Singer Burke Zimmer & Kogan, LLP: a business-management, tax, and accounting firm serving high-achieving creative professionals.

Geographic Base: Los Angeles, California - a key creative hub.

Strategic Rationale: Mercer is integrating Singer Burke into its Regis Group - a team dedicated to clients with at least $25 million in investable assets - while using the firm to anchor its cross-platform practice for media, entertainment, and creative professionals.

Leadership Continuity: Singer Burke’s leadership team (Matthew Burke, Richard Singer, Elaina Kogan, Stephanie Arkof, and Amitha Harichandran) will remain in place, leveraging Mercer’s operational scale, technology, and expanded offerings (e.g., estate planning).

Deal Advisors: Dalphia Partners acted as financial advisor, and Seward & Kissel LLP provided legal counsel.

Industry Context

This acquisition underscores a significant trend in the wealth-management industry: consolidation with a focus on niche, high-value clients. Firms like Mercer are increasingly targeting RIAs that specialize in particular professional verticals - in this case, entertainment and creative fields - to build differentiated expertise. The creative sector has complex planning needs (royalties, intellectual property, episodic income), making it attractive for platforms that can provide both investment advice and sophisticated business management.

Regulatory demands, succession planning, and the unique income structures of creative professionals make these practices sticky and well-suited for integration into larger, full-service platforms. By combining creative-sector experts with a national scale house like Mercer, clients benefit from deep specialization and institutional-level resources.

Lower-Middle-Market Roll-Up Perspective

From a roll-up strategy standpoint, Mercer’s move is instructive:

1. Targeted Platform Build: Rather than broad market roll-up, Mercer is executing a highly focused acquisition to strengthen its creative and UHNW wealth business.
2. Cultural Alignment: Singer Burke brings a boutique, client-driven ethos, which aligns with Mercer’s family office principles. Maintaining the leadership team preserves trust and continuity.
3. Scalable Infrastructure: With Mercer’s technology, operations, and compliance backbone, Singer Burke gains institutional benefits without losing its entrepreneurial spirit.
4. Cross-Segment Leverage: Mercer can offer Singer Burke’s clients expanded services (estate planning, deeper tax planning) while Mercer’s broader advisor base can lean on the entertainment-focused practice as a center of excellence.
5. Growth Capital Alignment: Backed by private equity (Oak Hill, Genstar, Altius Partners), Mercer is well-positioned to continue acquiring high-caliber boutiques.

Why This Sector Is Attractive for Roll-Ups

• Fragmented Specialist Landscape: Many boutique firms serve entertainment professionals but lack scale or succession plans - ideal for platform consolidation.
• Complex Income & Planning Needs: Artists, executives, and producers often have nontraditional earnings (e.g., royalties, production fees), creating demand for tailored advisory.
• High Client Lifetime Value: UHNW creative professionals often require long-term planning (tax, estate, business) and generate recurring fee potential.
• Institutional Versus Boutique Trade-Off: Clients seeking boutique service plus institutional resources benefit from combined models.
• PE Backing Drives Consolidation: Private equity-backed RIAs are actively building platforms by acquiring specialized practices in attractive niches.

Conclusion

Mercer Advisors’ acquisition of Singer Burke is a powerful signal that it is doubling down on its UHNW and creative-professional business. By integrating Singer Burke into its Regis Group and launching a dedicated entertainment-specialty practice, Mercer is marrying deep domain expertise with national scale.

For Mercer, this enhances its ability to serve a distinctive client segment. For Singer Burke, it provides long-term growth capacity, advanced infrastructure, and expanded service lines - while preserving the firm’s legacy. From a broader industry perspective, this deal illustrates how platform-focused RIAs can successfully scale by acquiring high-skill, high-touch boutique practices in meaningful verticals.

For founders, operators, and advisors in niche professional markets, the Mercer-Singer Burke deal highlights a path: partner with a like-minded platform that values specialization, continuity, and institutional strength.