Until Robo-Advisors Learn Empathy

Trilogy Capital, a $5 billion wealth manager based in Irvine, Calif., is acquiring Mountain Capital Investment Advisors, a $1 billion registered investment advisor firm in Westminster, Colo.

Trilogy says the deal is its largest acquisition of the year and will establish its 11th office location and its second in Colorado.

Mountain Capital was founded in 2011 by Brandt Burns, a former U.S. Marine and airline pilot who says that joining Trilogy will provide his team of advisors with additional resources to improve their service model while preserving much of their operating model.

“We will retain our brand and unique position in the marketplace, and our leadership team, advisors, and staff will remain intact, so client disruption should be minimal,” he says. “This important move for our firm will not replace what we’ve built—it will strengthen it.”

In addition to Burns, other members of Mountain Capital have worked as pilots or in other roles in the aviation industry, and it has a niche serving clients who work in that sector. Brandt’s wife, Mountain Capital co-founder Michelle Burns, spent 14 years as a senior manager for United Airlines. At Mountain Capital, she led development of a specialized tax-preparation service designed for pilots and other aviation-industry professionals. Trilogy says that an affiliated company, Trilogy Tax & Consulting, will absorb Mountain Capital’s tax service.

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Trilogy Financial, formerly part of the National Planning Holdings network bought by LPL Financial in August, says it will affiliate with the independent broker-dealer. The Huntington Beach, California-based group has some 150 financial advisors and over $2 billion in client assets.

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