Smart Business Magazine, December 2019

26 Smart Business Cleveland December 2019 Effective dealmakers tend to approach their craft much like a couple in love says MAI Capitals Rick Buoncore Its a process to get to know each other says Buoncore the wealth management firms managing partner You date then you get engaged and then you get married That doesnt typically happen in six months It happens over a year or two and quite honestly most of our transactions have taken awhile to culminate People who we talked to in 2017 are now starting to talk to us and saying Hey lets do something That strategy has worked well for Buoncore who took over at MAI in 2007 after his prior firm BC Investment Partners bought McCormack Advisors International In that time MAI has grown from 900 million to nearly 7 billion in assets under management In the next three to five years we hope to be at 15 billion if not 20 billion or 25 billion Buoncore says What were saying is come join us We think our Acquisitions drive opportunity as firm nears 7B in assets under management Rick Buoncoretrajectory together will be better than yours as it is today and certainly better than ours as it is today In this Dealmakers feature we spoke with Buoncore about the evolution of MAIs acquisition strategy Be aggressive A pivotal deal in the rise of MAI was a July 2017 transaction in which West Palm Beach Florida based Wealth Partners Capital Group made a minority investment in the firm It was a common equity ownership interest and they have become our M A team Buoncore says We hadnt done any acquisitions prior to them becoming part of us Since then weve done four including three this year We have four letters of intent out right now So its heated up MAI acquired Calfee Financial Advisors Inc in 2018 and this year has added CCI Financial Group Inc MTX Wealth Management and John D Dovitch Associates One reason these deals take time Buoncore says is because of what MAI asks companies to do after they are acquired Were asking you to give up everything youre doing and do it our way Buoncore says Have our name and go forward with us and have our equity and lose a little bit of the control that you had Sometimes not totally but for sure partially Its not right for everybody But for those that it is and its a good fit for us so far its been phenomenal When MAI looks for acquisition targets its looking for companies that bring a similar approach to their work providing wealth management counsel to clients Im not saying were doing it the only way this is just the way weve chosen to do it Buoncore says Were looking for firms and leaders that are like minded in the sense of how they run their business Are you client centric or are you just worried about what youre making Are you investing in the future or are you not If youre not thats OK because we have and we can help you catch up But BY MARK SCOTT mscott@ sbnonline com Smart Business Dealmakers is a weekly digital newsletter featuring the top business leaders in the Cleveland M A scene Sign up today at www smartbusinessdealmakers com cleveland DEALMAKERS DEALMAKER FEATURE