Creative Planning has acquired Baseline Wealth Management, a Swiss registered investment advisor (RIA) with locations in Geneva and Zurich.
The acquisition adds 14 employees and more than $1 billion in assets under management to Creative Planning. This is Creative Planning’s first international acquisition.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to have Baseline join Creative Planning for our initial expansion into Europe,” said Creative Planning President and CEO Peter Mallouk. “We’ve long recognized the large international demand for Creative Planning’s unique financial planning model. In addition to Baseline’s extensive experience serving international and U.S. clients, they also share our core values of integrity, transparency and a strong fiduciary responsibility to clients.”
Baseline is licensed by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) as a portfolio manager. It’s also registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as an RIA, as well as by the Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA/ACVM).
Baseline serves high-net-worth individuals worldwide, including entrepreneurs, professional athletes and other established professionals. Baseline is also licensed to manage extra-mandatory Swiss retirement solutions for private clients.
“Joining forces with Creative Planning provides our clients with access to Creative Planning’s comprehensive suite of services while also allowing Creative Planning to offer a Swiss wealth management solution,” said Baseline CEO Thierry Grin. “Peter’s vision, sustained success and visionary leadership, along with his extraordinary team, including David Kuenzi and talented M&A advisors, gave me confidence that joining forces was the right next step for our organization.”
“The Baseline team adds significant value to Creative Planning’s international wealth management business. The European market is currently dominated by proprietary product sales by banks with virtually no planning or fiduciary standard — and it can’t be fully served from the United States,” said Kuenzi. “Europeans want to work with Europeans, in their language and in their time zone. Thierry and Peter share a similar vision of bringing comprehensive wealth management to Europe and the rest of the world. I’ve been truly honored to work with Peter and Thierry to bring our teams together.”
Homburger’s Frank Gerhard served as Baseline’s counsel for the acquisition, and P2M Advisory’s Thierry Loth served as Baseline’s M&A advisor.
Houlihan Lokey’s Matt Kempler and Steven Levitt served as financial advisors for Creative Planning.