Prime Capital, an Overland Park, Kan.-based registered investment advisor overseeing about $40 billion in client assets, has recapitalized with a minority stake from private equity firm The Carlyle Group.
Prime Capital and its previous minority investor, Abry Partners, went to market to seek an exit for Abry and an opportunity for investors beyond the firm’s initial five founders to realize gains, CEO Glenn Spencer said Thursday. Spencer said Prime Capital’s founders began sharing equity with other employees in 2021, with Abry taking its stake in 2023.
The recapitalization with Carlyle “proves out our advisor ownership thesis if you will,” Spencer said. “It’s going to be great for [the other owners], a great outcome for Abry, and we’re super excited about Carlyle, which in my view is one of the top 10 or 12 private equity firms in the world.”
Spencer said Prime Capital considered numerous stakeholders in conjunction with bankers at William Blair and Goldman Sachs. Ultimately, he said Carlyle saw value in Prime Capital’s thesis that holistic wealth services will work in the market, with the firm working across wealth, employer-sponsored retirement plans, estate, family office and tax planning.
“Carlyle and others completely bought into that thesis,” Spencer said. “We’ve really built that holistic wealth business and sized it to mass affluent, high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth. … We provide holistic services to all of them, and that makes us a pretty unique firm in this space.”
The deal was first reported by the Kansas City Business Journal.
Spencer said that the partner would be exiting, with Carlyle likely ending up with less than 25% ownership. The Washington, D.C.-based private equity firm will secure two of Prime Capital’s seven board seats through the transaction.
Spencer said Prime Capital also renegotiated its credit facility as it prepares to continue acquiring and making other investments for growth.
He said the firm’s fastest-growing area of business is tax strategy, which it has been building up since the October 2025 acquisition of Hartman Wanzor McNamara LLP.
This June, Carlyle completed a full takeover of MAI Capital, valued at $77.3 billion, by taking a majority stake in the acquisitive RIA. It also holds a minority stake in Captrust, which has more than $1.2 trillion in client assets across wealth and retirement plans.
According to sources, Carlyle is also currently in a bidding war with Bain Capital for majority ownership of RIA Wealth Enhancement.
On Wednesday, Prime Capital settled a multi-year legal battle with Edelman Financial Engines over non-solicitation agreements. Prime Capital agreed to an injunction detailing procedures that the company and any Edelman planner who opts to leave for Prime Capital must take if they switch firms.