By Kenneth Corbin

EP Wealth Advisors, a large registered investment advisory firm based in Southern California, is expanding its presence in the West with the acquisition of Buffington Mohr McNeal, an RIA in Boise, Idaho.

BMM, founded in 1998 by Dean Buffington, Bruce Mohr, and Carey McNeal, manages nearly $900 million in client assets. Mohr and McNeal are still with the firm and will join EP through the acquisition. Buffington passed away in 2020.

"As we remember Dean Buffington, our partnership with EP Wealth preserves his legacy as a fiduciary, and he would be delighted," says McNeal. "Our community put their trust in the firm that we created with Dean 27 years ago, making it a priority to continue serving them in a larger capacity."

Mohr called the deal "a monumental step in the journey for BMM," and says his firm will improve its service model with access to EP's "tools and back-office services."

The firm's 11-person staff, including Mohr and McNeal, will join EP

through the acquisition. EP ranked No. 11 on   Barron's 2024 list of top RIAs . 

This is EP's sixth acquisition of the year, and continues an ambitious M&A campaign that began in 2017 when the firm sold a minority stake to Wealth Partners Capital Group. EP has made dozens of acquisitions since, and now maintains more than 50 offices in 18 states, managing $32.6 billion as of the end of March.

BMM primarily caters to retail investors, with the bulk of its assets held by high-net-worth clients. The firm also works with a few dozen charities and other institutional clients, according to its most recent Form ADV regulatory filing.

The acquisition establishes the first office in Idaho for EP, which says the deal will expand its presence in what's known as the Intermountain West. "When EP Wealth establishes a new region, the most important criterion is to partner with entrepreneurs who share our client-centric, talent-based mind-set," says EP CEO Ryan Parker.

"For nearly 30 years, BMM has put their clients' needs first and created a culture that rewards long-term career development. As their team joins our nationwide family, we will build on that legacy to create even more successes in the years ahead."

This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 05, 2025 15:43 ET (19:43 GMT)

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