By Mark Armbruster
We’ve had some exciting developments at our company lately. As we’ve written previously, our industry has changed a lot over the past couple of years. That means a lot of firms have consolidated, but that’s not the path we’ve chosen. Rather, we continue to invest in our company to make sure we have the scale and resources for the future.
First, we recently closed on our third acquisition. While we have mostly grown organically, we have made a few small acquisitions over the years. In this case, it was a very easy and natural transition. We had been acting as the subadvisor for RDG Capital Management, and when they had some changes at their company, they asked us to buy out most of their firm. We already know the clients from working together over the past few years and are excited about deepening those relationships.
While we are far from “serial acquirors,” we are open to opportunities that come our way and expect to see more of this type of activity in the years to come. Industry statistics show that the average investment firm owner is nearing retirement age, and it is often difficult to do internal succession plans. If we find like-minded, client-focused firms, we’re always open to new partnerships.
Our growth has also recently been recognized nationally, as Financial Advisor Magazine included as Armbruster Capital Management in its 2026 list of America’s Top RIAs among firms with more than $1 billion in assets under management.
In order to support our growth, we have also hired three new team members. Maggie Broomfield will be an investment advisor working with clients, particularly our new clients from RDG Capital. Maggie grew up locally in Honeoye Falls, went to Loyola Maryland, and then returned to Rochester to work for Paychex prior to joining our team.
Owen Pettee recently joined our portfolio management and research group. He graduated from St. John Fisher University, where he served as the Portfolio Manager of the University’s Investment Club. He also has already enrolled in the CFA program and recently took the first exam.
Rachel Freitas is also a recent college graduate and will be helping our advisors with administrative support while she works on getting her Series 65 license. She majored in finance at SUNY Brockport and waws involved with the school’s investment club.
We are also in the process of updating our technology infrastructure. We already use industry-leading software for our portfolio management and trading functions, but it was time to update our CRM. We’re knee-deep in the implementation currently, which turns out is a multi-month project with numerous considerations for all aspects of our business. I am relieved to report that Craig and Tarryn are handling this, and not me.
It has been a time of thoughtful growth for our firm, and we’re excited to be building for the future. At a time when the world is moving toward automation and generally less personalization, we want to make sure we have a strong team of humans in place to help our clients with whatever they need. Technology is an important tool in making that happen, but smart, responsible people need to be the core.