$33B Merit President Mayhue to Take CEO Role as Founder Kent Becomes Executive Chair

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Merit Financial Advisors, an Atlanta-based registered investment advisor overseeing $33 billion in client assets, announced a planned succession strategy, with President Kay Lynn Mayhue becoming CEO and founder Rick Kent moving into the role of executive chairman. The change will take effect on Jan. 1.

With the transition, Mayhue will take the top job after serving as president and firm partner since 2017, during which time she helped grow Merit from about $2 billion in assets under management and advisement to $33 billion. Mayhue will also gain a president, with Zach Mersberger taking the role about four years after his firm was acquired by Merit.

Kent will remain active at the RIA, focusing on long-term strategy, organic growth and culture, the last of which he said is crucial to advisors joining and staying with Merit. He said that he met Mayhue when the two were running an advisor coaching group over a decade ago.

“We got to know each other in that coaching group, and I think we developed a respect for each other,” Kent said. “Both of us are really big on relationships and investing in relationships, and there was that respect.”

A link-up emerged as an idea when Mayhue was facing a partner retirement at her firm, Botsford Financial Group. She said that at the time, the idea of firms merging and scaling for growth was relatively new, and she saw potential in Merit.

“That was right on the brink of this idea of firms truly integrating and not just saying, ‘Oh, I’m going to sell because I’m ready to retire,'” she said. “I was seeing that we could be stronger together, and that we could build and scale together and make the client experience better.”

Kent said Mayhue had a clear track record as an advisor and producer, but he also saw in her a desire to lead that made her a natural fit for president. In a few years, he knew he wanted her to succeed him as CEO.

“Before Kay Lynn and I came together, I used to think about succession planning a lot,” he said. “I knew I needed a plan, but I didn’t know who was going to step up. … When Kay Lynn came along, and after we started working together for a couple of years, I knew this was somebody who could step up into that role.”

In 2019, Merit took a minority stake from Wealth Partners Group, which fueled the start of an acquisition strategy that has seen Merit close 62 deals, with more in the pipeline for this year, as it remains among the most active RIA dealmakers. The RIA has a focus on firms with second-generation advisors looking to fuel growth, not retire, Mayhue said, which has also seen Merit build out adjacent services such as tax and estate planning with an eye toward wallet share and organic growth.

“Our types of M&A have evolved, and they’re going to continue to evolve,” she said. “We’re really, really focused on finding the firms that are doing all the right things, but that through a partnership can just grow quicker, and we can have people have more fun doing it.”

Mayhue referenced an announcement Merit had made the day of the interview concerning a Commonwealth Financial Network advisor with two second-generation advisors who had just joined the RIA. The firm has been particularly active this year with Commonwealth advisors, bringing in about $7.5 billion in new assets from that cohort following LPL Financial’s acquisition last year.

Some of their activity has been fueled by a July 2025 recapitalization in which Constellation Wealth Capital acquired a minority stake by buying out Wealth Partners Group.

Kent said that, with the leadership transition, he will roll over all of his equity to stay in Merit, as he “can’t think of a better investment.”

There will also be other leadership promotions at the firm, which now has about 500 employees and 70 offices.

Brian Andrew, executive vice president and chief investment officer, will add the title of chief strategy officer to his role, and Chrissy Lee, Merit’s chief operating officer, will add the role of chief enterprise officer, focused on operations and execution.

Alex Hansen, chief advisor success officer, will take on more leadership responsibilities for advisor success, organic growth and wealth solutions, the firm said.

Mayhue said Merit is unique in that, like her, many of the current leaders and those in the future will have joined through acquisitions, such as Mersberger.

“It’s an interesting lens on what can be done when you do acquisitions the right way,” she said. “We have a ton of folks that have joined through partnerships that are leading regionally, that are leading divisions for us. Zach really early on just shined. … He just checks the boxes in so many ways.”

The pending CEO said she does not have a list of changes for Merit when she takes over, but rather sees herself “continuing the vision” that she and Kent have been working on.

“This is a natural transition because Rick and I share the same values and the same belief about how Merit should grow,” she said.