A $3.36-billion Bay Area-based registered investment adviser has onboarded Vantage Wealth, a Pasadena firm that has served business-owners, executives and wealthy families since 1993.
With the acquisition, Summitry, headquartered in Foster City, adds Vantage Wealth’s $721 million in assets under management. Financial details were not disclosed for the transaction, in which Oregon-based consultancy FP Transitions served as an adviser.
James Van de Voorde, Vantage Wealth’s president and chief executive, said he has been looking for a partner firm to solve his succession plan ever since his co-founder, Bob Osher, died 11 years ago. Keeping a boutique feel for the four-employee firm in an age of mass consolidation in the RIA industry felt crucial, he said.
“I had not felt very comfortable (in my search) until having our conversations with my partners at Summitry,” Van de Voorde said. “It just became, for me, very clear that this was something different.”
RIA mergers and acquisitions have picked up in recent years with a flood of interest from private equity backers, reaching a record-setting 276 transactions for $796 billion in acquired assets in 2025, according to a recent M&A report from Fidelity. Torrance-based EP Wealth Advisors ranked sixth in the country for the most acquisitions last year.
Southern California push
Van de Voorde was quick to list off the two firms’ similarities, from their focus on specialized financial planning for high-net-worth clients to their use of individual equities bought at a discounted rate.
Another commonality felt like kismet to the adviser. Many years ago, Summitry ran an office in Pasadena, where Vantage Wealth has long been based. The branch had been managed by a senior adviser who spent nearly two decades working alongside Osher, Van de Voorde’s late business partner.
The recent deal marks a renewed expansion for Summitry out of the Bay Area, where it has provided financial and retirement planning, estate and trust services, and equity compensation advice since 2003. The firm itself was acquired in November 2024 by Aspen Standard Wealth, which has brought on six other RIAs since then.
As part of the transition, Vantage Wealth will keep its Pasadena office, Van de Voorde said, but also serve as a platform for Summitry’s local growth. The adviser said he plans to contact peer RIA practitioners in Los Angeles who might not have succession plans about folding into Summitry.
Summitry Chief Executive Colin Higgins said coming together with Vantage Wealth will help advance the latter’s “incredible success” in the southern California market.
“Vantage Wealth has built its reputation by combining sophisticated financial expertise with deeply personal advice, ensuring every client feels confident, informed, and supported at every stage of their financial journey,” Higgins said in a March 10 news release. “Our firms are very much aligned in terms of our values, vision and how we operate.”
The partnership will support Vantage Wealth’s long-term client relationships and allow it to expand the suite of services and solutions it offers, Van de Voorde said. Summitry is leveling up the smaller firm’s technological solutions with a deep investment in AI tools for estate and tax planning, he said, and bringing access and expertise in alternative investments.
“Together, we’ll have a more robust offering of investment solutions,” Van de Voorde said. “We’ll be able to offer more for our clients and, I think, a lot more for my people, my team.”
