F.L.Putnam Investment Management Company has acquired a Wisconsin investment advisor team that oversaw more than $1 billion in client assets with F/m Investments, an asset manager affiliated with 1251 Capital Group, a holding company. The deal closed Sept. 1.
The addition of the six-person Red Granite team in Milwaukee is F.L.Putnam's largest acquisition to date. It is the second deal it has made to acquire an advisory practice in the Midwest and establishes its first office in Wisconsin. The Red Granite practice serves roughly 150 high-net-worth clients.
Red Granite is led by Joel Vrabel and David Drzadinski, co-chief investment officers who have together managed a proprietary large-cap growth equity strategy since 1996. That strategy, which will now become available through F.L.Putnam's investment platform, aims to outperform the Russell 1000 Growth Index while capping risk and volatility.
"Joining FLP gives us the opportunity to bring our large-cap equity strategy to a broader platform while continuing to focus on the work and client relationships that have driven our success for the past three decades," Drzadinski says.
Alex Morris, CEO of F/m Investments, says the move was an amicable separation. "Red Granite's focus on wealth management fit better with F.L.Putnam's capabilities," he says. "We wish the team well and look forward to their continued success."
The six team members, four of whom hold the chartered financial analyst credential, became F.L.Putnam employees through the acquisition.
Based in Lynnfield, Mass., F.L.Putnam ranked No. 94 on Barron's 2025 list of top registered investment advisor firms. It reported $9.7 billion in assets under management on its most recent Form ADV regulatory filing.
The deal marks F.L.Putnam's third acquisition of the year and the 12th during the tenure of CEO Tom Manning, who took the reins of the company in 2015. More acquisitions are likely to come.
"We continue to look for opportunities to expand our suite of services, deepen our talent pool, and serve clients more effectively, both inside and outside our current markets," Manning says.
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