Houlihan Lokey Advises West Coast Financial

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that West Coast Financial, LLC, an independent registered investment advisor (RIA) with $1.9 billion in assets under management, has merged with Cerity Partners LLC, a national independent wealth management firm. This transaction closed on March 31, 2025.

Founded in 1983 and based in Santa Barbara, California, West Coast Financial provides comprehensive financial planning services, including tax and estate planning, retirement planning, and portfolio management. Specializing in working with employees with stock option plans as well as in-house managed real estate funds, West Coast Financial primarily serves clients based in California.

Headquartered in New York and founded in 2009, Cerity Partners is a nationally recognized, full-service wealth management firm serving high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their families, businesses and their leadership teams, and nonprofit organizations. Cerity Partners now manages more than $120 billion in client assets with approximately 1,300 colleagues and 285 partners.

Houlihan Lokey acted as the exclusive financial advisor to West Coast Financial. This deal marks Cerity Partners’ second closed transaction of 2025 and Houlihan Lokey’s eighth transaction with the company*. It is also representative of the heightened interest in the Central Coast and Southern California regions by wealth management platforms due to their concentration of wealth and importance in local relationships.

*Inclusive of acquired firms' transactions.

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