Marsh has agreed to acquire Wilshire, a global investment consulting, solutions, and analytics firm, in a deal that extends the brokerage giant’s push into the advisor-led wealth segment and deepens its capabilities in alternatives and institutional asset management. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and client consents. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The acquisition adds a firm with $221 billion in assets under management and $1.6 trillion in assets under advisement as of June 30 to Marsh’s investments business. Wilshire partners with more than 300 institutional investors and financial intermediaries globally across wealth management, retirement, alternatives, and analytics.
The Wilshire acquisition is Marsh’s third significant investments-side move in 2026. In March, it agreed to acquire AltamarCAM, a European private markets manager with €20 billion (around $22.3 billion) in assets under management. In April, its agency arm agreed to acquire TriBridge Partners, a benefits broker and wealth adviser in Maryland serving the DC-Baltimore corridor. Taken together, these moves reflect a deliberate effort to build an integrated investment platform spanning institutional advisory, private markets, and wealth management.
“By combining Wilshire’s capabilities with our global reach, open architecture, and expertise across public and private markets, we can help clients make better decisions and build resilient portfolios in an increasingly complex investment environment,” said John Doyle, president and CEO of Marsh.
Wilshire’s value to Marsh lies partly in its client relationships, but also in what it has built technically. The firm holds proprietary data, analytics infrastructure, and model portfolio capabilities that financial advisors and asset managers use to make allocation decisions. That combination of institutional-quality research and advisor-channel distribution is what Marsh is acquiring alongside the headline asset figures.
The deal lands at a moment when the boundary between insurance brokerage and financial advisory is narrowing across the industry. Financial advisors expanding into benefits and retirement plan consulting are competing for the same employer and institutional clients that large brokers have traditionally served. Brokers, in turn, are building out wealth and retirement capabilities to retain those relationships as client needs grow more complex.
Marsh's investments business oversees approximately $727 billion in assets under management across retirement, wealth, and institutional advisory, according to Marsh's first-quarter 2026 investor presentation. Wilshire extends that reach into the financial advisor ecosystem, a distribution channel Marsh has not previously had meaningful access to.
Pat Tomlinson, president and CEO of Marsh People and Investments, said Wilshire would “expand our scale and capabilities, particularly in alternatives, model portfolios, and data and analytics, strengthening our platform for wealth advisors and asset managers.” Packaged investment solutions sold through financial advisors are one of the fastest-growing segments in the wealth management market, and Wilshire already has infrastructure in that space.
A survey by Marsh McLennan Agency and Wealth Management IQ found that 78% of wealth management advisors and retirement plan advisors believe their two business models are converging, a structural shift that larger brokerages are now racing to capture at scale. Marsh is approaching the same convergence from the opposite direction, using its brokerage scale and institutional reach to move into wealth and investment advisory. The gap between what large brokers offer and what large financial advisory firms offer is narrowing, and Marsh is accelerating that process.
Jason Schwarz, CEO of Wilshire, said the acquisition gives his firm access to Marsh’s “global reach and resources” to serve clients “across the investment value chain.” Wilshire’s staff across its US, European, and Asian offices will join Marsh upon closing.
For independent and mid-market brokers competing in the top-tier retail space, wealth and retirement advisory is already part of the competitive landscape in brokerage. The question the Wilshire deal raises is how quickly integrated platforms at Marsh’s scale will reshape client expectations of what a broker can deliver.
