Thrivent Trust Co. has acquired the assets of Ronald Blue & Co., an Atlanta-based wealth-management firm that applies biblical principles to financial planning with its clients.

Nicholas Stonestreet, who leads Ronald Blue, will become chairman and CEO of the merged trust company, which will be called Thrivent Trust until a new name is chosen, Thrivent said this week.

Stonestreet said the two companies becoming one makes sense.

"Thrivent's mission is 'Helping people be wise with money,' " Stonestreet said. "Ronald Blue & Co. has always had the tagline 'Wisdom for wealth for life.' "

Ronald Blue & Co. is one of the largest fee-only independent wealth-management firms in the country, Thrivent said. It has more than $7.5 billion in assets under management and assets under administration.

Founded in 1979, it has 13 offices across the country and about 85 advisers serving 6,800 families.

Thrivent Trust Co. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Minneapolis-based Thrivent, a Fortune 500 not-for-profit, membership organization of Christians offering financial planning and wealth management services.

Parent company Thrivent has more than $116 billion in assets under management or under advisement. Thrivent's existing trust business has approximately $600 million in assets.

Going forward Thrivent Trust Co. will operate two divisions: Ronald Blue Trust will serve wealth-management needs of clients previously served by Ronald Blue & Co.; Thrivent Trust will offer trust and estate settlement services through Thrivent Financial representatives.

The new structure allows Ronald Blue & Co. to transition to a trust company and offer more services to clients. Trust companies provide more complex wealth management services including estate and generational wealth-management services to clients and their families.

Stonestreet said that Thrivent and Ronald Blue & Co. began discussing a combination two years ago; the deal became effective on Tuesday.

Stonestreet joined Thrivent nine months ago in anticipation of the acquisition's close. He has 30 years in the financial services industry including stops at Regions Financial and Merrill Lynch. He was most recently co-founder and CEO of Vident Financial, an investment management firm based in Atlanta.

Patrick Kennedy • 612-673-7926