Mariner Wealth Advisors Acquires Financial Wellness Platform Spring
First Acquisition of its Kind for the Firm Will Support Employee Retention and Experience
Overland Park, Kan. – May 31, 2023 – Mariner Wealth Advisors, a national wealth advisory firm, today announced that it recently acquired Spring, a company providing businesses with financial wellness benefits for their employees. This acquisition has led to the creation of Mariner Financial Wellness, a new offering that positions Mariner Wealth Advisors as a full-service solution for businesses seeking to provide wealth planning and financial guidance for all employees.
A recent CreditWise survey found that finances, including debt, savings and general money management, are the number one cause of stress for adults ages 18–57, over politics, work and family.[1] When companies incorporate a financial wellness program into their benefits, it fosters increased morale, higher productivity and stronger retention. Sixty percent of employees have even said they are more likely to stay with an employer that offers a program designed to help them manage their money. Because of this, more companies are looking to add financial wellness as a benefit for employees.
Mariner Financial Wellness consists of two components for employees—an online portal that includes customized educational content, budgeting tools, goal setting and tracking, and a financial health and progress summary—complemented by holistic 1-on-1 financial wellness coaching from a licensed, trained and dedicated coach. Businesses will simultaneously be able to see data-driven insights through robust reporting that aggregates their employees’ financial concerns, showing results such as declining debt and increasing savings, while still keeping the individual employees’ information confidential.
“Across the board, it remains our top priority to positively impact as many individuals and communities as possible, and this addition helps us continue to fulfill that promise,” said Marty Bicknell, CEO and president of Mariner Wealth Advisors. “The integration of Spring will greatly complement our current retirement service offerings and will allow us to sustain that impact by making financial advice more accessible to employees across the country.”
Retirement plan sponsors are increasingly being asked to address employees’ broader financial needs with a more comprehensive set of workplace services. The demand, the conversation and the opportunity have evolved into one where addressing retirement needs is inextricably linked to a broad set of participant financial needs, including wealth management. Mariner Financial Wellness is an immediate fit for the companies already receiving support in the creation, management, and expansion of their employer-sponsored 401(k) plans from Mariner Wealth Advisors’ retirement plan solutions team. It addresses these demands by providing 360º financial support for employers and employees alike, strengthening employee retention while championing individual employee wellbeing.
Spring was founded in 2015 by Founder and CEO Joe Holberg. Though the deal with Spring, which closed in January 2023, is the first of its kind for Mariner Wealth Advisors, the offering nicely complements its preexisting service offerings for businesses and business owners, which include wealth and tax planning for executives, retirement plan solutions, and other specialized services such as cash management and complex tax and business advisory services.
“Throughout the entire journey from the foundation of Holberg Financial in 2015, to its rebrand as Spring in 2021, and now to this next phase with Mariner Wealth Advisors, I have relentlessly focused on building and enhancing a platform that improves employees’ financial education and wellness,” said Holberg. “I’m thankful for the businesses that have been on this journey with us, and I am excited about the opportunities we will be able to share with them now that we are part of Mariner Wealth Advisors.”
Holberg will continue at Mariner Wealth Advisors as Managing Director, overseeing operations of Mariner Financial Wellness. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.