Park Sutton Represents the Fastest-Growing Arizona RIA in its Sale to Creative Planning
New York, NY, April 12, 2022 – Park Sutton Advisors is pleased to have represented Keystone Wealth Partners (“Keystone”) on its acquisition by Creative Planning (“Creative”), an RIA managing $225 billion in traditional wealth management and 401(k) assets. Headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, Keystone was founded by John Hagensen and manages $644 million in assets. Keystone, focused on financial, tax, and estate planning, has been named as Arizona’s fastest-growing planning-focused RIA, by Citywire. Keystone’s four offices are spread across Arizona and North Dakota. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
John Hagensen, Founder and Managing Director of Keystone, said, “I have admired Creative Planning since my early days as a financial advisor. My team and I are in perfect alignment with Peter’s vision to provide holistic advice that spans far beyond investments. Joining Creative Planning will allow us to deepen our value proposition for new and existing families.”
“He’s built a very strong marketing platform. He’s grown his business in a way completely unique and separate from how Creative Planning has. We’re going to be incorporating his model to Creative Planning’s approach to acquiring new clients. We’re piloting that here in the next couple of months outside of his own area,” said Peter Mallouk, Creative’s majority owner and CEO.
Dan Erichson, CFA, a Park Sutton Advisors Director, who led the transaction, said, “John had preliminary discussions with Creative prior to our engagement. To ensure that none of the fine details were missed, and to better understand the transaction landscape, including whether it made sense to pursue other buyers, we were brought in to help. Having built his firm to mirror the Creative model, and as the fastest-growing firm in Arizona for two consecutive years, John ultimately concluded that this was the best option for his clients and employees. He also knew that he could play a key role to drive organic growth across the Creative organization. I am so thrilled for the Keystone team and I am excited to see this new partnership in action.”