Firm continues year of growth and expands presence in California with acquisition

Overland Park, Kan. – July 28, 2021 – Mariner Wealth Advisors, a national wealth advisory firm, today announced that it has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Channel Islands Group. Based in Ventura, California, this will be Mariner Wealth Advisors’ sixth office in the state and further bolsters its national footprint. In addition, it is the firm’s 26^th acquisition and the third announced agreement in the past four weeks.

“This is an exciting time of growth at our firm,” said Marty Bicknell, CEO and president of Mariner Wealth Advisors. “We’re thrilled to partner with Channel Islands Group as we continue to expand the Mariner Wealth Advisors family and our footprint in California. Their driven approach to giving clients the best wealth options that work for them, coupled with the remarkable relationships they’ve built over many successful years of business, will be the perfect addition to our portfolio.”

Channel Islands Group has approximately $277 million in assets under management (AUM) and a very successful estate planning business. The firm has developed customized wealth management plans under its core values of transparency and prioritizing client trust while supporting financial, mortgage and legal services all under one roof since 2014. Founding partners Michael Snowden Jr and Russ Charvonia collectively have over 53 years of experience in the financial advisory business. Channel Islands Group’s wealth planning abilities complement Mariner Wealth Advisors’ holistic set of offerings, from tax planning to trust and insurance, ultimately expanding the firm’s breadth of offerings to clients. 

“I am so proud of the business our team has built and what we’ve achieved over the years,” said Snowden Jr. “Joining the Mariner Wealth Advisors family will allow us to build upon this growth and support our clients for generations to come. Their core values, starting with putting clients first, align perfectly with our culture. We can’t think of a better team to help us provide exceptional, holistic financial advice to our clients.”

In addition, Charvonia, said he is most looking forward to being able to expand services to clients. “We have been working to develop an ‘under-one-roof’ financial services concept for decades,” he said. “This gets us even closer to that dream.”

Mariner Wealth Advisors currently has 369 advisors across 49 offices and is on an upward growth trajectory following a minority stake investment from private equity firm Leonard Green & Partners, L.P., earlier this year. Over the last four weeks, the firm has added more than $6 billion in assets through the acquisition of Allegiant Private Advisors and AdvicePeriod. In addition to the announced acquisitions, Mariner Wealth Advisors has opened six new locations year to date.

Channel Islands Group will assume the Mariner Wealth Advisors name when the deal closes on August 31.