In what he refers to as a “build it or join it decision,” Spokane-based Hart Capital Management Inc. founder Craig Hart chose to join.

Mercer Global Advisors Inc., of Denver, announced Thursday morning it has acquired Hart Capital, which was founded by Hart in 1998. He and the company’s team of nine advisers will join Mercer Advisors.

Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed in Mercer Advisors’ press release, and Hart couldn’t be reached immediately for comment.

In the release, Hart says, “We had reached a level of needing to invest heavily in our business to develop the scale and infrastructure necessary to service our ever-increasing client needs.”

Mercer Advisors was founded in 1985 and bills itself as one of the largest registered investment advisers and financial planning companies in the U.S., with close to $27 billion in client assets, according to the release. The company has about 520 employees and operates across the country in more than 45 locations.

As of late last year, Hart Capital served roughly 400 clients with about $440 million in assets under management from offices in Spokane and Coeur d’Alene.

The company, which is known in Inland Northwest business circles for the Hart Capital Inland Northwest Index & Composite quarterly reports, has experienced consistent growth throughout its history. In November 2016, Hart told the Journal his financial investment company had 300 clients and managed assets just over $300 million. The investment company had $120 million in investments in November 2009, Hart told the Journal.

Last June, SmartAsset, a personal finance technology company, listed Hart Capital as the second largest investment company in the region, with $433.5 million in assets under management. SmartAsset gathers its findings from U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings.

Hart Capital has an office located in downtown Spokane and opened its Coeur d’Alene office in 2016.

Hart says his company wanted to offer competitive in-house services, such as estate planning, tax return preparation, and corporate trustee assistance.

“We felt the best decision was to join a national firm that had already built this infrastructure, with the added scale of dedicated middle- and back-office departments,” he says.

Hart pointed to Mercer Advisors’ information technology, marketing, and sales teams as examples.

David Barton, Mercer Advisors’ vice chairman and head of mergers and acquisitions, says in the release that company is seeking to increase its presence in the Pacific Northwest.

“I also like the fact we can leverage our existing operations in Seattle, Portland, and Idaho to create a convention of Mercer Advisors’ shared support in the Pacific Northwest,” Barton says.