HB Wealth buys $700M healthcare-focused RIA in Texas push

What's the deal? HB WealthDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an Atlanta-based fee-only registered investment advisor overseeing $33 billion, has acquired Wealth CareDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a family-run RIA with roughly $700 million in assets under management. The deal, announced in October 2026, brings founder Steven Podnos and his daughters, Rachel Podnos O'Leary and Lauren Podnos-Garner, into the firm. Terms were undisclosed.

Why now? The acquisition plants HB Wealth's flag in Austin, Texas — its seventh market after Georgia, Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Wealth Care also keeps an office in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

What's the endgame? Wealth Care specialises in advising physicians and healthcare professionals. Podnos, a former pulmonary and critical care physician who practised in the Air Force Reserve until 2023, founded the firm in 2002 and later made his daughters co-owners.

What they're saying: Joining HB Wealth "allows us to preserve the independent, fiduciary approach that has always defined our work while expanding the depth of advice and resources we can bring to each relationship," Podnos said. HB Wealth is owned by its employees alongside minority stakeholders New Mountain CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and TPG GrowthDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.

Meanwhile: Hightower Advisors said Sandy Cove AdvisorsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Hingham, Massachusetts firm with about $752 million in AUM, has joined Hightower Signature WealthDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → — its third external acquisition of 2026. The deal, expected to close at the end of the third quarter, lifts the unit's AUM above $40 billion. Sandy Cove, led by President Deirdre Prescott, focuses on family legacy planning and life transitions, including divorce.

The signal: Both deals point to steady consolidation among registered investment advisors, as private-equity-backed firms expand geography and specialist expertise through acquisition.

Read more: wealthmanagement.com

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