Creative Planning agreed on Tuesday to acquire institutional investment consultant RVK, Inc., a Portland, Oregon-headquartered firm that advises just over 200 institutional clients on approximately $4.3 trillion in assets.
Creative Planning, an Overland Park, Kansas-based registered investment advisor with more than $780 billion in assets under management or advisement as of 30 June 2026, did not disclose the financial terms of the transaction.
RVK TO OPERATE AS AFFILIATE UNDER CURRENT LEADERSHIP
The deal is structured as a definitive acquisition agreement, under which RVK will become a Creative Planning affiliate and continue to be led by its current management team. The arrangement suggests Creative Planning intends to preserve RVK's existing operating structure and institutional client relationships rather than fully integrate the business.
The transaction is expected to close in January 2027, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Goldman Sachs & Co. acted as exclusive financial advisor to Creative Planning on the deal.
DEAL EXPANDS INSTITUTIONAL CONSULTING REACH
The acquisition significantly expands Creative Planning's institutional investment consulting capabilities by adding RVK's roster of more than 200 institutional clients and its substantial advisory asset base. Combining a large wealth management-focused registered investment advisor with an established institutional consulting firm reflects a broader trend of consolidation across the advisory industry.
RVK's advisory scope of approximately $4.3 trillion in assets dwarfs Creative Planning's own directly managed assets, underscoring that the acquired business operates primarily as a consultant rather than a discretionary asset manager. The deal adds a well-established institutional consulting franchise to Creative Planning's existing wealth management and advisory operations.
Goldman Sachs & Co.'s role as exclusive financial advisor to Creative Planning on the acquisition underlines the scale and complexity of combining a large wealth manager with an institutional consulting firm of RVK's size. The January 2027 target close date gives both parties several months to satisfy regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions before the deal is finalised.
With more than $780 billion in assets under management or advisement as of 30 June 2026, Creative Planning already ranks among the larger independent registered investment advisors in the United States, and the addition of RVK's $4.3 trillion advisory relationship base would meaningfully extend its footprint into institutional consulting, a segment distinct from its existing wealth management client base.
RVK's continuity under its existing management team, combined with the firm becoming a Creative Planning affiliate rather than being fully absorbed, suggests both parties intend to preserve the institutional consulting relationships RVK has built with more than 200 clients over its history as the deal moves toward its expected January 2027 close.
Creative Planning's use of an external financial advisor of Goldman Sachs's standing for a deal of this nature signals the level of diligence being applied to valuing RVK's institutional consulting business, given the scale difference between RVK's $4.3 trillion advisory base and Creative Planning's own $780 billion in managed and advised assets.
RVK's Portland, Oregon headquarters and Creative Planning's Overland Park, Kansas base mean the combination brings together two established but geographically distinct US advisory franchises, with the deal expected to close in January 2027 once regulatory approvals and other customary conditions have been satisfied.
Neither Creative Planning nor RVK disclosed the financial terms of the acquisition in the announcement, leaving the roughly $4.3 trillion in advisory assets and RVK's client roster of more than 200 institutions as the primary publicly available metrics for gauging the scale of the business being added to Creative Planning's platform.