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D. Scott Neal, Inc. Joins the National Firm Mercer Advisors

Published a day ago via Business Wire

10-person firm with offices in Lexington and Louisville becomes the Kentucky presence of the $70 billion Denver-based firm

Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. (“Mercer Advisors”), a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA), today announced the acquisition of D. Scott Neal, Inc. (“D. Scott Neal”), a Kentucky-based financial planning and investment management firm specializing in guiding families through transitional periods in life. Bringing over $300 million in assets under management, this acquisition represents Mercer Advisors' first partnership in Kentucky.

Led by Scott Neal, President & CEO; Jerome Zimmerer, Vice-President & Chief Compliance Officer; and Richard Coles, Senior Advisor, D. Scott Neal has been providing comprehensive wealth management services from their offices in the Greater Lexington and Louisville areas for over 30 years. The firm, with clients in 17 states, is well known for its expertise in serving healthcare professionals, entrepreneurs, small business owners, individuals navigating divorce, and families who need assistance with retirement, elder planning and higher education planning.

“Mercer Advisors is a firm whose client-first values and fiduciary approach closely align with ours. This partnership allows us to expand our capabilities, provide a more comprehensive wealth management offering and tap into the growth opportunities available in Kentucky,” said Neal. “With Mercer Advisors, we can continue to help our clients, many of whom we’ve served across multiple generations, navigate financial decisions with confidence and build a forward-thinking roadmap to reach their goals.”

“D. Scott Neal has built a trusted firm with deep, long-term client relationships in Kentucky,” said Martine Lellis, Principal, M&A Partner Development at Mercer Advisors. “The team’s dedication to providing personalized, comprehensive advice aligns with our mission to help clients secure their financial futures. We are proud to partner with the team at D. Scott Neal to strengthen their presence in this important market.”

By joining Mercer Advisors, D. Scott Neal gains access to enhanced investment management, estate and tax planning resources, allowing for more comprehensive client services. This partnership also provides next-gen advisors with greater growth opportunities, supported by Mercer Advisors’ specialized expertise and operational infrastructure.

“The addition of D. Scott Neal marks our first partner firm in Kentucky. This acquisition grows upon our strong presence, allowing our team of advisors and specialists to help impact more families across the country,” said Ben Kautz, Executive Managing Director at Mercer Advisors. “Kentucky represents an attractive, untapped market and we look forward to expanding our reach while supporting the D. Scott Neal team with the full depth of Mercer Advisors’ resources."

Houlihan Lokey acted as the exclusive financial advisor to D. Scott Neal, Inc. in this transaction. For more information about partnering with Mercer Advisors, please visit merceradvisors.com/acquisitions.

About Mercer Advisors

Mercer Advisors, the #1 ranked RIA firm in the nation according to the Barron’s 2024 Top 100 Registered Investment Advisor Firms, was founded in 1985. For 40 years, Mercer Advisors has been trusted to help families amplify and simplify their financial lives. The company offers comprehensive, fee-based family office services, including financial planning, estate and tax planning, insurance solutions, and corporate trustee and trust administration services. Mercer Advisors Inc. is a parent company of Mercer Global Advisors Inc. and is majority owned by Oak Hill Capital, Genstar Capital, and Altas Partners. Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, is privately held, has 1,220+ employees, and operates nationally through more than 95 locations. Mercer Advisors has $71 billion in client assets. For more information, visit merceradvisors.com and merceradvisors.com/acquisitions.

Important Information

Company statistics as of January 31, 2025. Client assets refers to client assets under management (AUM) and client assets under advisement (AUA) as well as assets gained from recent acquisitions where the advisory agreements have been properly assigned to Mercer Global Advisors, but the custodial accounts have yet to be transferred and/or the accounts have yet to be migrated to Mercer Global Advisors’ portfolio management system.

Mercer Advisors is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice to clients. All estate planning documentation preparation and other legal advice is provided through select third parties unaffiliated to Mercer Advisors. Tax preparation and tax filing are a separate fee from Mercer Advisors’ investment management and planning services. Trustee services are offered through select third parties with which a client would engage directly, as such additional fees may apply. Mercer Global Advisors has a related insurance agency. Mercer Advisors Insurance Services, LLC (MAIS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercer Advisors Inc. MAIS provides individual life, disability, long term care coverage, and property and casualty coverage through various insurance companies. For Mercer Global Advisors clients who wish to purchase insurance products, MAIS has entered into a non-exclusive referral agreement with Strategic Partner(s), where the Strategic Partner will provide necessary services relative to the marketing, placement, and servicing of the insurance products, including without limitation preparing and presenting illustrations, supporting the underwriting process, assisting with the completion and execution of applications, delivering policies, and servicing in-force business. MAIS and the Strategic Partner will be listed as either “agents” or “co-agents” on the policies. While Mercer Global Advisors does not receive a referral fee, Strategic Partner receives a percentage of the commission revenue. MAIS and Strategic Partner do have a revenue sharing agreement.

2024 - Barron’s Top 100 RIA methodology

Mercer Advisors was ranked number 1 for firms with up to $70 billion in client assets. In 2024 Barron’s ranked the largest registered investment advisor firms separately from its broader RIA ranking. For Barron’s Mega RIAs list, they selected firms that manage 2% or more of the total assets of all ranking applicants. This year, that created a threshold of $70 billion in assets. Advisers who wish to be ranked fill out a 100+ question survey about their practice. Barron’s verifies that data with regulatory databases and then Barron’s applies their rankings formula to the data to generate a ranking. The formula features three major categories of calculations: (1) Assets (2) Revenue (3) Quality of practice. In each of those categories Barron’s does multiple sub calculations including asset type, growth, client retention, technology spending, succession planning, diversity of their teams, charitable and philanthropic work and compliance records. No fee was paid for participation in the ranking, however, Mercer Advisors has paid a fee to Barron’s to use the ranking in marketing.

Neither rankings and/or recognitions by unaffiliated rating services, publications, media, or other organizations, should be construed by a client or prospective client as a guarantee that he/she will experience a certain level of results if Mercer Advisors is engaged, or continues to be engaged, to provide investment advisory services. Rankings published by magazines, and others, generally base their selections exclusively on information prepared and/or submitted by the recognized adviser. Rankings are generally limited to participating advisers (see participation criteria/methodology). Unless expressly indicated to the contrary, Mercer Advisors did not pay a fee to be included on any such ranking. No ranking or recognition should be construed as a current or past endorsement of Mercer Advisors by any of its clients.

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