Vistria Group acquired an undisclosed minority position in Curi Capital, a $14 billion wealth manager operating across the upper Midwest and Texas. The deal marks Chicago-based Vistria's first direct play in the registered investment advisor segment since its 2013 founding. Curi declined to disclose the purchase price or percentage stake. Terms were finalized in the final week of April.

Curi manages wealth for 110,000 clients through a network of advisors in 14 states. The firm generates revenue primarily through asset-based fees tied to its advisory accounts and brokerage commissions from its registered representatives. Vistria's capital will fund advisor recruitment, technology infrastructure upgrades, and potential bolt-on acquisitions in markets where Curi already has operational density. The firm has completed nine acquisitions since 2018, mostly targeting practices in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota with $200 million to $800 million in assets under management.

The transaction lands in a crowded field. Private equity firms deployed $5.7 billion into RIA platforms in 2023, up 22% from the prior year, according to Echelon Partners. Median EBITDA multiples for wealth management platforms now sit at 12.4x, roughly 180 basis points higher than the 10.6x average seen in 2021. Vistria joins firms like Kelso & Company, Parthenon Capital, and Genstar Capital in backing wealth managers as aging advisors create succession pressure and as clients consolidate accounts with fewer platforms. Curi's model—blending independent advisors with centralized compliance and back-office functions—gives Vistria exposure to recurring fee revenue without the direct employment liabilities of wirehouse broker-dealers.

Allocators should track Vistria's follow-on capital deployment over the next 12 to 18 months. If the firm pushes Curi toward acquisitions in California or the Southeast, that signals Vistria is building for a secondary sale to a consolidator like Focus Financial or CI Financial. If capital flows instead toward advisor retention packages and proprietary planning software, Vistria is positioning for a longer hold with margin expansion as the thesis. Curi's next SEC filing, due in mid-July, will show whether assets under management climbed materially in the second quarter, a proxy for organic growth versus acquisition-driven bulk.

The last three wealth managers Vistria considered—two in 2022, one in early 2024—all transacted with competing PE shops within 90 days of Vistria's initial diligence.