Marsh to Acquire $220B Advisory and Consultant Wilshire

Someone’s looking to get buddy-buddy with America’s financial advisors.

Global professional services company Marsh announced this week that it has agreed to acquire Wilshire, a California-based investment advisory and consultant with more than $220 billion in assets under management and more than $1.6 trillion under advisement. A price tag hasn’t been announced, but the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of next year. Though historically an institutional player, the acquisition highlights Marsh’s expansion into the advisor-led wealth segment, specifically as it pertains to its model portfolios and alternatives capabilities.

“The acquisition of Wilshire is an important step in growing Marsh’s investments business and strengthening our connection to the financial advisor ecosystem,” Marsh CEO John Doyle said in a statement.

A Growing Market

It’s no secret that advisors love model portfolios. Assets in third-party model portfolios reached nearly $1 trillion this March, according to Morningstar. Also, advisors are increasingly seeking out alternative investment strategies. An iCapital survey from August found that 89% of advisors plan to maintain or increase allocations to alternatives over the next 12 months. It’s numbers like those that can make Wilshire particularly attractive to Marsh.

Plus, wealth management offers recurring, fee-based revenue, sticky client relationships and a long growth runway as assets keep shifting to independent advice, so being part of that infrastructure is incredibly appealing, Echelon Partners CEO Dan Seivert said. “For a diversified firm like Marsh, it’s a natural extension of its retirement, benefits and institutional consulting businesses, reaching the same employers and individuals it already serves,” he told Advisor Upside.

In the past few years, Marsh has had a growing presence in the financial advisor space, both in and outside the US:

• Earlier this year, Marsh acquired Spain’s AltamarCAM, expanding its private market capabilities and reach with family offices.
• It purchased the UK-based Fundhouse in 2025, a firm that provides investment advice and model portfolios to wealth managers.

This latest deal fits the investment platform Marsh has been building, Seivert said. “Wilshire gives that platform a direct line into the advisor channel.”

Think Big. Marsh advises clients in 130 countries and employs about 95,000 people, so under this new deal, Wilshire could significantly expand its product distribution network, and advisors could have greater access to sophisticated tools and research, Seivert said.

“Marsh brings something few wealth management acquirers can match: a massive institutional client base, global scale and a fortress balance sheet,” he said. “For advisors, that means institutional-grade research, alternatives access and retirement plan expertise that’s very difficult to build at the firm level.”