Vistria Takes Majority Stake in $14B RIA Curi Capital, Closes Deal

A Chicago RIA changes hands again

The Vistria Group, a Chicago-based middle-market private equity firm, has closed its investment in Curi Capital, a registered investment adviser with more than $14 billion in assets under advisement. Curi Capital confirmed the closing on October 1, 2026.1112 The deal was first announced on August 25 with a target close in late September, so it finished on schedule.14 Neither side disclosed financial terms, either at announcement or at closing.212

The official language is soft. Curi Capital's releases call Vistria an "ownership partner" that invests alongside the firm's employee owners and its existing shareholders, Curi Holdings and Wealth Partners Capital Group (WPCG).113 The trade press was more direct. AdvisorHub reported that Vistria is buying a majority stake and taking control from Curi Holdings, a medical malpractice insurer.2 InvestmentNews quoted CEO Dimitri Eliopoulos confirming that a Vistria investment vehicle would hold a majority interest once the deal closed.3 Regulatory filings point the same way. SEC mutual-fund documents filed when the deal was announced describe it as a change of control of the adviser. Under the Investment Company Act, that ends the existing advisory agreements for the RMB Investors Trust funds and means replacement agreements have to be approved.10

Where the coverage diverges

Most outlets agree on the main facts: about $14 billion in client assets, a late-September close, undisclosed terms, and an M&A-led growth plan. Two points are less consistent.

The first is what kind of deal this was. One deal digest listed it as a "minority stake."19 AdvisorHub, InvestmentNews and Connect Money all describe a majority purchase, and both the CEO's statement and the SEC change-of-control language support that.23510 The minority label looks like a misreading of the "strategic investment" wording in the releases. This was a control buyout, even though Curi Holdings, WPCG and employees all kept their stakes.

The second is how big the firm is. The $14 billion figure is the firm's own assets-under-advisement number as of June 30, 2026. Curi Capital's footnotes say it differs from the regulatory assets under management on its Form ADV.1 One analysis of the firm's filings puts the advisement figure at $14.66 billion and regulatory AUM at about $11.6 billion. That roughly $3 billion gap comes from counting different categories of assets, and it is disclosed rather than a mistake.10 When buyers value the business, the lower regulatory number may matter as much as the headline.

The exit story: one investor leaves, another arrives

This deal is as much about earlier investors leaving as about a new one coming in. Curi Capital was launched in 2019 as a joint venture between Curi Holdings and RIA consolidator MAI Capital Management. It started with about $400 million and was built around physicians who bought malpractice insurance from Curi.23 MAI sold its stake back in 2021, the first exit in the firm's short history.2

The second big change came in late 2023, when Curi Capital agreed to merge with RMB Capital. RMB brought about $9.6 billion and Curi Capital about $1.6 billion, and the deal closed on January 1, 2024.3 The combined firm moved its headquarters to RMB's Chicago office and was renamed from Curi RMB Capital to Curi Capital in July 2025.310 InvestmentNews noted that the Vistria deal is the second major ownership change in under three years.3

WPCG bought a minority stake in March 2026, only months before Vistria arrived.25 WPCG also holds stakes in MAI, Waverly Advisors, MCF Advisors and Crewe Advisors, and Eliopoulos said the Vistria deal does not change its position.3 For Curi Holdings, the deal is a partial exit: it gives up control but stays a significant shareholder.413 In effect, an insurer that started a wealth unit to serve its physician customers has sold control to a dedicated financial investor while keeping some of the upside.

The pattern is common across the industry. AdvisorHub notes that large RIAs keep turning to private equity both to fund acquisitions and to give early partners liquidity. It cites Fidelity research showing that nearly 90% of RIA deals completed in 2025 involved private-equity-backed buyers.2

Vistria's playbook in wealth management

Vistria manages about $18 billion and invests in healthcare, knowledge and learning, financial services and housing.1315 Its financial services group, led by senior partners Mike Castleforte and Boris Rapoport, invests in wealth and asset management, retirement services, employee benefits and insurance.1 Curi Capital is not its first RIA. Vistria took a stake in The Mather Group in 2022, its first wealth-management deal, and AdvisorHub reports that it now owns a majority of the $17 billion firm.23

With Curi Capital, Vistria now controls two RIAs of similar size, both well above $10 billion. Whether it keeps them separate or eventually combines them is open. Nothing in the coverage points to a merger. Still, building a cluster of platforms in the same sector is a familiar private equity strategy, and it gives Vistria several ways to exit later.

Vistria's record shows it does exit. One investor-profile database credits it with one IPO and eight portfolio-company sales, naming the University of Phoenix, Edmentum and FullBloom.18 The same profile lists a 2023 acquisition of U.S. Retirement & Benefits Partners, a retirement-focused investment manager.18 Private equity funds typically hold for a set period, so Curi Capital's management has accepted an owner that will eventually want to sell. The likeliest buyers would be a larger consolidator, a secondary private equity buyer, or a combined Vistria wealth platform.

What the money buys

Curi Capital says the new capital will go to four areas: better technology, hiring and training, improvements to the client experience, and acquisitions of "like-minded" RIAs in existing and new markets.13 WPCG will continue to lead deal sourcing.111 Eliopoulos told InvestmentNews he expects growth in client advisory, investment management and operations, and wants to add estate planning and tax preparation services.3

The firm has 12 offices across eight states and Washington, D.C.812 Its clients include mass-affluent and high-net-worth households, business owners, medical professionals and healthcare executives. It also runs a family office practice with more than 40 years of history and over 20 staff.18 Rapoport cited that breadth, from mass-affluent clients to multigenerational family offices, as the reason Vistria invested.1 Clients keep the same advisers, the same name and the same leadership.115

William Blair was Vistria's exclusive financial adviser. Winston & Strawn advised Vistria on legal matters, and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton represented Curi and Curi Capital.814

A big deal in a slowing market

The timing matters. Mercer Capital counts 158 announced RIA deals through August 2026, compared with 178 in the same period of 2025, a drop of about 11%.17 August's average target size rose to $2.3 billion only because of two deals: Corient's purchase of Summit Trail Advisors ($21 billion) and Vistria's purchase of Curi Capital ($14 billion). Together they accounted for about 80% of the month's acquired assets.17 The median target was about $550 million.17

Mercer named sales of platform-scale firms as a trend to watch. It points out that a firm of Curi Capital's size selling outright raises different valuation and integration questions than a small tuck-in.17 Other large deals followed. Wealth Enhancement agreed in late September to buy RWA Wealth Partners, which has about $22.5 billion in client assets.

The Curi Capital deal shows where RIA consolidation now stands. Total deal count is falling, while the capital is going into fewer and larger control deals, each giving one more private equity sponsor its own acquisition platform. Curi Capital has been a joint venture, a merger partner and a minority-backed firm in seven years, and it now has a majority owner whose fund will eventually need a return. Its value at that point will depend on whether the planned acquisitions grow the firm without weakening the client service Vistria cited as its reason for investing.