TRIA-Backed Modera Wealth Management to Buy $3.8B RIA Parsec Financial

Modera Wealth Management, a Westwood, NJ-based fee-only registered investment manager, has acquired Parsec Financial, an Ashville, NC-based fee-only RIA with roughly $3.8 billion in client assets.

The transaction brings Modera’s client assets to more than $10.5 billion and creates one of the largest independent wealth management firms on the East Coast with more than 180 employees across 14 offices between Massachusetts and Florida.

Modera will remain independently managed and majority employee-owned and controlled. All of Parsec’s employees have joined Modera and 24 of those employees have become Modera owners, giving the combined business a total of 61 employee owners.

“Modera and Parsec have long shared a common set of core values that differentiate us from other wealth management firms,” said Tom Orecchio, Chief Executive Officer of Modera. “Chief among those is a relentless commitment to a client-first, fiduciary approach to helping the families we serve achieve their long-term financial goals.

Modera was backed in the transaction by its existing equity partner TRIA Capital Partners, an investment firm focused on providing minority, non-control financing solutions to independent RIAs. TRIA bought a minority stake in Modera in 2021.

Rick Manske, former CEO at Parsec, will become Modera’s Chief Growth Officer; Bill Hansen, Chief Investment Officer at Parsec, will become Modera’s co-Chief Investment Officer; and Harli Palme, Chief Operating Officer at Parsec, will become Modera’s Chief Operating Officer. Manske and Palme will also join Modera’s board.