Two affiliated Marietta firms — a wealth management practice and an insurance agency with roots stretching back to 1948 — have been sold to Maridea Wealth Management, establishing the national firm’s first presence in Ohio, according to a Business Wire release from the sell-side advisor, Green Sail Capital Partners.
River Cities Financial Services, Ltd. and Dietz, Futrell & Walters Insurance, Inc. were sold to Maridea, a national registered investment advisor, according to Green Sail Capital Partners’ Nov. 11 announcement on Business Wire. Green Sail represented the owners of both firms in negotiations with Maridea and advised them through closing, the firm said.
The two Marietta businesses are affiliated and serve clients side by side: wealth management from River Cities alongside personal, business and benefits insurance from DFW Insurance, for individuals, families and business owners, according to the Business Wire release. DFW Insurance was founded in 1948 as an independent agency, and River Cities Financial Services grew out of it in 1985, the release said.
For clients, the firms say the address stays the same. The firms’ investment advisors, insurance agents and operations staff will join Maridea, and both businesses will continue serving clients from their existing offices in Marietta, with access to Maridea’s tax, research and financial planning resources, according to Green Sail’s announcement.
The pairing of the two businesses shaped the sale itself. “The relationship between the wealth management and insurance businesses was an important consideration in identifying the right buyer,” Ryan Kaminski, co-founder of Green Sail Capital Partners, said in the Business Wire release. “We focused on finding a firm that understands both companies and could provide continuity for their teams and clients,” Kaminski said in the release.
His co-founder offered the broader lesson for owners. “Owners of wealth management firms with additional business lines need to think carefully about how those operations affect their exit strategy,” Christopher Gent said in the Business Wire release. “That planning is best done before going to market, not in the middle of negotiations,” Gent said in the release.
Green Sail Capital Partners is a boutique investment bank, founded in 2023 by Gent and Kaminski, that advises registered investment advisor and wealth management firm owners on sell-side mergers and acquisitions and capital advisory, with offices in Boston and Chicago, according to the release.
For Marietta, the deal keeps a 78-year-old local insurance agency and its 41-year-old wealth spinoff operating from home under a national owner — and gives Maridea its first Ohio foothold in a river city where both firms’ names are long established. The announcement did not disclose the sale price or terms.
Photo: Marietta, Ohio, above the Muskingum River. Photo: Tim Kiser, CC BY-SA