Larry Roth Converts M&A Advisory Firm To Broader Consulting Network

08/07/2025|Essential Edge Compliance Outsourcing Services, LLC

Larry Roth is converting his firm RLR Strategic Partners, an M&A advisory and strategic consulting concern, into a network of independent consulting firms under a new name, Ascentix Partners, his company announced today. 

The new operating entity will be called Ascentix Partners Network, and it will include a number of prominent executives in the advisory ecosystem spanning several different disciplines—including advisor M&A, technology strategy, compliance and regulatory consulting, enterprise benefits, brand strategy, marketing and public relations, the release said.

The strategic partner firms include:

Together, these industry consultants will form Ascentix Strategic Partners, according to the release. All five professionals will continue to retain separate ownership of their independent firms, according to one of the executives, who describes the venture as largely a consultant network. 

Roth is at the center of the firm. Before serving as an M&A advisor, he served as CEO of four independent broker-dealers. He founded Vestax Securities in the 1980s and sold it to ING in the late 1990s, later becoming CEO of ING’s broker-dealer network. Subseuently, he served as CEO of AIG’s broker-dealer network and later the Cetera brokerage network. In the cases of AIG and Cetera, he managed both brokerage entities through the bankruptcy of their parent companies, a rare accomplishment.

Though the members of the different partner firms may refer one another to clients, there are no referral fees. One member of the network said the entire group was unanimous on this issue because they want avoid conflicts of interest and place clients first.

“Shifting demographics, transformative technologies and ongoing consolidation have created extraordinary opportunities for growth across the wealth management industry,” said Roth, the founder and managing partner of Ascentix Partners, in a prepared statement. “To seize these opportunities, firms need to work with proven third-party experts and consultants across disciplines—and do so within a structure that empowers collaboration, alignment and execution. That’s what Ascentix delivers.”

The motivation for creating the network appears to be an effort to leverage the different consultants’ skills. “The consultant landscape in our industry is highly fragmented, which makes it difficult for firms to find the right partners, let alone coordinate among them,” Roth continued in the release. With Ascentix and our network of strategic partner firms, we offer clients a seamless solution, backed by unmatched experience and deep-rooted, value-add relationships across the wealth management ecosystem.”

The Ascentix rebrand and the launch of its network follows the firm’s recent expansion of its team of senior professionals, including three executives who have been named as partners:

  • Jim Roth, a former senior vice president of enterprise sales and solutions at BetaNXT;
  • Jim Nagengast, the former CEO of Securities America; and
  • Todd Glassman, who will be the strategic finance and value creation executive for wealth management enterprises.

Joe Kuo joins Larry Roth as co-founder and managing partner of Ascentix, while continuing to serve as CEO and founder of Haven Tower Group. Katherine Paulson, partner and chief marketing officer at Haven Tower Group, will be the Ascentix CMO as well. Drew Brophy is chief of staff for Ascentix, as he was at RLR Strategic Partners.

“The Ascentix Network is the natural next step for a community of close-knit firms that have long worked with one another and grown stronger together over many years,” Kuo said in the release. Together, we have the capabilities, relationships and knowledge to move the needle across every major function of enterprise growth in the wealth management space.”

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