Who is buying RIAs and wealth management firms?
23 named consolidator platforms are actively acquiring US wealth management businesses; 21 of them are private-equity-backed. Typical wealth management acquisitions price at 6x-12x EBITDA (2.7x-7x SDE for smaller owner-operated businesses), per published ranges from Piper Sandler, Advisor Growth Strategies 2026 RIA Deal Room Report and others. The most recent named acquisition tracked on this page closed in October 2026.
Why RIAs and wealth management firms are consolidating
- •The number of investment advisers rose to 16,544 in 2025, and 92.8% of advisers employed 100 or fewer people, according to the Investment Adviser Association and Comply's 2026 Investment Adviser Industry Snapshot.
- •RIA deal volume hit an all-time high of 466 announced transactions in 2025, up 27.3% year over year, according to ECHELON Partners' 2025 RIA M&A Deal Report.
- •Using a narrower deal definition, 2025 closed with 322 announced RIA transactions, beating the prior record of 272 set in 2024, even though 22 fewer buyers were active, according to DeVoe & Company's Q4 2025 RIA Deal Book.
- •There are 50+ active PE-backed wealth management platforms, compared with fewer than 10 in 2019, and the largest 100 RIAs hold about $3 trillion of AUM, roughly 10% of the U.S. wealth management market, according to Piper Sandler's 2024 Asset & Wealth Management Whitepaper.
- •The first half of 2026 brought 262 announced RIA transactions, the most active first half on record, and the firm projects 500 deals for the full year, according to ECHELON Partners' 2Q 2026 RIA M&A Deal Report.
The platforms consolidating RIAs and wealth management firms
The named groups acquiring US wealth management businesses, with their current owner and a source for each. Most grow through individual partnerships that are not separately disclosed; where a platform publishes named deals, recent ones are listed.
| Acquirer | Owner / backer | Type | Headquarters | Latest named deal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wealth Enhancement Group | TA Associates and Onex (majority owners); Stone Point also an investor | Private equity | Minneapolis, MN | Sep 2026 |
| Creative Planning | Peter Mallouk, founder and CEO (majority); General Atlantic (minority, 2020); TPG Capital (minority, 2024) | Private equity | Overland Park, KS | Jun 2026 |
| Mariner | Marty Bicknell, CEO and president (majority control); Leonard Green & Partners (minority, 2021); Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions (minority, 2024) | Private equity | Overland Park, KS | Jun 2026 |
| CAPTRUST | Managers and employees (majority); GTCR and Carlyle (minority) | Private equity | Raleigh, NC | Sep 2026 |
| Focus Financial Partners | Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and Stone Point Capital (took it private, closed Aug 31, 2023) | Private equity | St. Louis, MO | May 2026 |
| Hightower Advisors | THL (Thomas H. Lee Partners), lead investor since 2018 | Private equity | Chicago, IL | Sep 2026 |
| Corient | Mubadala Capital, through CI Financial (take-private closed Aug 12, 2025) | Private equity | Miami, FL | Jul 2026 |
| Cerity Partners | Genstar Capital (majority, since 2022); employees and Lightyear Capital (minority) | Private equity | New York, NY | Oct 2026 |
| Mercer Advisors | Oak Hill Capital, Genstar Capital, Altas Partners and GIC (majority owners) | Private equity | Denver, CO | Aug 2026 |
| Merit Financial Advisors | Constellation Wealth Capital (minority, Jul 2025) | Private equity | Atlanta, GA | Aug 2026 |
| Savant Wealth Management | Employees (largest shareholder); Cynosure Partners and Kelso & Company (about 30% combined); Hamilton Lane (funded a $270M continuation vehicle for part of Cynosure's stake, Jul 2026) | Private equity | Rockford, IL | Sep 2026 |
| Beacon Pointe Advisors | KKR (holds a stake through KKR Polyphony Aggregator L.P.); otherwise independently owned | Private equity | Newport Beach, CA | Mar 2026 |
| EP Wealth Advisors | Berkshire Partners and Ares Management (minority stakes); co-founders keep meaningful ownership | Private equity | Torrance, CA | Jun 2026 |
| Carson Group | Founder Omani Carson and employee shareholders (majority); Bain Capital (minority, 2021) | Private equity | Omaha, NE | Sep 2026 |
| Modern Wealth Management | Crestview Partners (provided $200 million at launch, 2023) | Private equity | Monterey, CA | Sep 2026 |
| Allworth Financial | Integrum Holdings, Lightyear Capital and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (co-led the Apr 2026 round); employee and advisor shareholders keep significant ownership | Private equity | Folsom, CA | Sep 2026 |
| MAI Capital Management | Carlyle (majority; closed Jun 4, 2026) | Private equity | Cleveland, OH | Jun 2026 |
| Prime Capital Financial | Founders and about 160 advisor-owners; Carlyle Global Credit (minority, expected under 25%, Aug 2026) | Private equity | Overland Park, KS | Jan 2026 |
| CW Advisors (Osaic) | Osaic, a portfolio company of Reverence Capital Partners (bought from Audax; closed Aug 2025) | Private equity | Boston, MA | Jun 2026 |
| LPL Financial | Publicly traded (Nasdaq: LPLA) | Strategic / public | San Diego, CA | Apr 2026 |
| Stratos Wealth Holdings | SEI Investments Company (Nasdaq: SEIC), controlling stake (first stage closed Dec 3, 2025) | Strategic / public | Beachwood, OH | Aug 2026 |
| Wealthspire | Madison Dearborn Partners (bought from Aon/NFP; closed Oct 30, 2025) | Private equity | New York, NY | May 2026 |
| Choreo | Parthenon Capital (lifted the firm out of RSM in 2022) | Private equity | Chicago, IL | Jul 2026 |
Wealth Enhancement Group
Private equity- Owner
- TA Associates and Onex (majority owners); Stone Point also an investor
- Headquarters
- Minneapolis, MN
- Scale
- More than 194 offices (Aug 2026); $164.6 billion in client assets as of Aug 31, 2026, and more than $187.1 billion once the RWA deal closes
Ownership may change. TA Associates and Onex are reported to be selling their stakes, with Carlyle and Bain Capital named as the final bidders at a valuation of about $7 billion including debt (Jul-Sep 2026). No sale had been announced by Sep 30, 2026. The $22.46B RWA deal is pending and expected to close in Q4 2026.
Creative Planning
Private equity- Owner
- Peter Mallouk, founder and CEO (majority); General Atlantic (minority, 2020); TPG Capital (minority, 2024)
- Headquarters
- Overland Park, KS
- Scale
- About $780 billion in assets under management (Sep 2026)
Private equity holds only minority stakes; the TPG release says Mallouk keeps a majority stake, and no 2025-2026 ownership change was found. The $780B figure comes from WealthManagement.com's Sep 15, 2026 report on the RVK deal (an institutional consultant, so it is not in the deals list).
Mariner
Private equity- Owner
- Marty Bicknell, CEO and president (majority control); Leonard Green & Partners (minority, 2021); Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions (minority, 2024)
- Headquarters
- Overland Park, KS
- Scale
- About $555 billion (Citywire headline, Apr 2026)
The founder holds majority control and private equity holds minority stakes; no 2025-2026 ownership change was found. In Apr 2026, LPL and Private Advisor Group agreed to buy Mariner Advisor Network ($31B, 367 advisors). The $555bn figure is from a Citywire headline that was not read in full.
CAPTRUST
Private equity- Owner
- Managers and employees (majority); GTCR and Carlyle (minority)
- Headquarters
- Raleigh, NC
- Scale
- More than $1.2 trillion in assets under advisement and management (May 2026)
Insiders hold the majority and private equity holds minority stakes.
Focus Financial Partners
Private equity- Owner
- Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R) and Stone Point Capital (took it private, closed Aug 31, 2023)
- Headquarters
- St. Louis, MO
- Scale
- More than $500 billion in advised assets across Focus firms as of Jan 1, 2026
Citywire reported in Jul 2026, citing unnamed sources, that CD&R is pursuing a sale of a minority stake with Goldman Sachs advising. HQ is given as St. Louis from the dateline of Focus's 2026 release; the 2023 closing release was datelined New York.
Hightower Advisors
Private equity- Owner
- THL (Thomas H. Lee Partners), lead investor since 2018
- Headquarters
- Chicago, IL
- Scale
- $350 billion in assets, 663 advisors in 33 states (Sep 2025)
Ownership may change. Citywire reported on Jun 2, 2026 that Hightower is pursuing a sale of a controlling stake, with Goldman Sachs and Ardea Partners advising. The newest owner source found is from 2020. The scale figure is from InvestmentNews's firm profile (as of Sep 2025).
Corient
Private equity- Owner
- Mubadala Capital, through CI Financial (take-private closed Aug 12, 2025)
- Headquarters
- Miami, FL
- Scale
- About $508 billion in client assets after completing two U.K. acquisitions (Jun 2026); the U.S. business alone had about $222 billion as of Mar 31, 2026
Mubadala Capital is the alternative-asset arm of Abu Dhabi's sovereign investor Mubadala, and it is classed here as private equity. Corient is CI Financial's U.S. subsidiary. It is also buying firms outside the U.S. (Stonehage Fleming, Stanhope, Bedrock).
Cerity Partners
Private equity- Owner
- Genstar Capital (majority, since 2022); employees and Lightyear Capital (minority)
- Headquarters
- New York, NY
- Scale
- More than $206 billion in client assets (Oct 2026)
An InvestmentNews article (Apr 2026) also names Warburg Pincus as a backer. The other sources read do not mention it.
Mercer Advisors
Private equity- Owner
- Oak Hill Capital, Genstar Capital, Altas Partners and GIC (majority owners)
- Headquarters
- Denver, CO
- Scale
- More than 110 locations; $111 billion in client assets (Sep 2026 release)
GIC appears among the majority owners in the Sep 2026 boilerplate but not in the Jun 2026 boilerplate. The Jun 2026 release gave more than 120 locations and $110B; the Sep 2026 excerpt gives more than 110 locations and $111B.
Merit Financial Advisors
Private equity- Owner
- Constellation Wealth Capital (minority, Jul 2025)
- Headquarters
- Atlanta, GA
- Scale
- More than 55 offices; approximately $30.1 billion in total client assets (as of Jul 20, 2026)
Constellation bought a minority stake. Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC-led investors exited in that deal. None of the sources read says who holds the majority. InvestmentNews counted nine Merit acquisitions in 2026 by mid-August and 61 overall.
Savant Wealth Management
Private equity- Owner
- Employees (largest shareholder); Cynosure Partners and Kelso & Company (about 30% combined); Hamilton Lane (funded a $270M continuation vehicle for part of Cynosure's stake, Jul 2026)
- Headquarters
- Rockford, IL
- Scale
- More than $57 billion (Sep 2026)
Private equity holds a minority (about 30%) and employees are the largest shareholder. Socha was Savant's ninth deal of 2026. Fidelity's tracking made Savant the most active buyer in the first half of 2026.
Beacon Pointe Advisors
Private equity- Owner
- KKR (holds a stake through KKR Polyphony Aggregator L.P.); otherwise independently owned
- Headquarters
- Newport Beach, CA
- Scale
- 90+ offices; approximately $62 billion in client assets under advisement (Feb 2026)
The ADV says only that KKR's vehicle 'owns a stake' and does not give its size. The scale figure is from Beacon Pointe's Feb 24, 2026 release.
EP Wealth Advisors
Private equity- Owner
- Berkshire Partners and Ares Management (minority stakes); co-founders keep meaningful ownership
- Headquarters
- Torrance, CA
- Scale
- More than 54 offices across 19 states; nearly $40 billion AUM (as of Aug 31, 2025)
Ares signed for a significant minority stake, expected to close in Oct 2025. Opes was EP Wealth's fifth deal of 2026.
Carson Group
Private equity- Owner
- Founder Omani Carson and employee shareholders (majority); Bain Capital (minority, 2021)
- Headquarters
- Omaha, NE
- Scale
- More than $65 billion in assets under management; 50 integrated offices (Sep 2026)
Private equity holds only a minority stake. Total Wealth Planning was Carson's 22nd acquisition of 2025, its most active year.
Modern Wealth Management
Private equity- Owner
- Crestview Partners (provided $200 million at launch, 2023)
- Headquarters
- Monterey, CA
- Scale
- Total assets of more than $15 billion; 23 acquisitions since 2023 (Sep 2026)
None of the sources read says whether Crestview holds a majority or a minority stake.
Allworth Financial
Private equity- Owner
- Integrum Holdings, Lightyear Capital and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (co-led the Apr 2026 round); employee and advisor shareholders keep significant ownership
- Headquarters
- Folsom, CA
- Scale
- More than 40 offices; surpassed $40B AUM (Sep 2026)
The release does not say which investor holds control after the Apr 2026 round. Lightyear and Ontario Teachers' had backed Allworth for about five years before that round.
MAI Capital Management
Private equity- Owner
- Carlyle (majority; closed Jun 4, 2026)
- Headquarters
- Cleveland, OH
- Scale
- Approximately $77.3 billion in combined client assets (Jun 2026)
Carlyle first entered MAI's ownership in 2021 through Galway Holdings. Kirkland & Ellis advised Harvest Partners on its sale (Mar 2026).
Prime Capital Financial
Private equity- Owner
- Founders and about 160 advisor-owners; Carlyle Global Credit (minority, expected under 25%, Aug 2026)
- Headquarters
- Overland Park, KS
- Scale
- $45B+ AUM; 75+ offices (as of Aug 6, 2026)
Abry Partners, the previous minority investor, exited in Aug 2026. Carlyle's credit platform provided about $600M of hybrid capital and takes two of seven board seats. The scale figure is from Prime's own stats page.
CW Advisors (Osaic)
Private equity- Owner
- Osaic, a portfolio company of Reverence Capital Partners (bought from Audax; closed Aug 2025)
- Headquarters
- Boston, MA
- Scale
- 23 offices; more than $16 billion in assets under management (Feb 2026)
CW Advisors is now a subsidiary of Osaic, a large wealth management and broker-dealer network. The 2025 Delta and Wolf deals were made under Audax ownership.
LPL Financial
Strategic / public- Owner
- Publicly traded (Nasdaq: LPLA)
- Headquarters
- San Diego, CA
- Scale
- Over 32,000 financial advisors; approximately $2.4 trillion in brokerage and advisory assets (Apr 2026)
LPL buys networks of broker-dealers and hybrid advisors rather than standalone fee-only RIAs, so neither deal is in the deals list. It is included as the largest public strategic buyer.
Stratos Wealth Holdings
Strategic / public- Owner
- SEI Investments Company (Nasdaq: SEIC), controlling stake (first stage closed Dec 3, 2025)
- Headquarters
- Beachwood, OH
- Scale
- Not disclosed
Added in verification. ECHELON counted 11 Stratos deals in Q2 2026, the most of any buyer. In May 2026, Stratos completed the purchase of 11 of its own partner practices ($4.8B, not named in the source). RPI was its 12th deal since SEI's investment.
Wealthspire
Private equity- Owner
- Madison Dearborn Partners (bought from Aon/NFP; closed Oct 30, 2025)
- Headquarters
- New York, NY
- Scale
- About $560 billion in client assets, mostly retirement plan assets (Sep 2025, at the deal)
Added in verification. Wealthspire combines Wealthspire Advisors, Fiducient Advisors and Newport Private Wealth. Axia (a retirement plan consultant) and Sellwood were bought through Fiducient.
Choreo
Private equity- Owner
- Parthenon Capital (lifted the firm out of RSM in 2022)
- Headquarters
- Chicago, IL
- Scale
- About $28 billion (Citywire headline, Jul 2026)
Added in verification. Choreo buys the assets of the firms it acquires. It also bought Insight Wealth Strategies in 2026 (location not sourced). The $28bn figure is from a Citywire headline that was not read in full.
Selling in your state?
What wealth management businesses sell for, who is buying, and how many there are, state by state.
Frequently asked
How many RIAs are being sold right now?
Deal counts are at record levels but have slowed lately. ECHELON Partners counted 466 announced RIA deals in 2025, up 27.3%. It counted 262 in the first half of 2026 and projects 500 for the year. DeVoe & Company uses a narrower definition and counted 322 deals in 2025, against 272 in 2024. DeVoe also flagged a third-quarter 2026 slowdown: 72 deals as of Sept. 22, down 19% from a year earlier.
What multiple will my RIA sell for?
It depends heavily on size. Advisor Growth Strategies found a median of 11.6x EBITDA across 60 RIA deals in 2025. Succession Resource Group reported an average of 9.98x across 171 advisor deals. Piper Sandler put the 2024 median for wealth managers under $5B AUM at 12.5x run-rate EBITDA. Smaller firms trade lower: First Page Sage lists 4.3x for financial advisors with $1-3M of EBITDA. Solo and very small practices are priced on SDE, at 2.69x-3.30x (Peak Business Valuation) to 4.5x-7.0x (buyAUM).
Are the buyers private equity firms?
Mostly they are platforms that private equity backs. ECHELON found that PE-backed acquirers made nearly 76% of the 120 RIA deals in Q2 2026, as reported by Axios. Fidelity said every firm among the 20 most active acquirers in the first half of 2026 is PE-backed. Several large buyers are still majority-owned by founders or employees, with PE minority investors: Creative Planning, Mariner, CAPTRUST, Savant and Carson Group. Stratos is controlled by SEI, a public company.
Could the firm that buys me be sold itself?
Yes, and it happens often. TA Associates and Onex are reported to be selling Wealth Enhancement, with Carlyle and Bain Capital as the final bidders. Citywire reported that Hightower is pursuing a sale of a controlling stake and that CD&R is shopping a minority stake in Focus. Carlyle took majority control of MAI Capital in June 2026. Madison Dearborn bought Wealthspire from Aon in October 2025, and SEI took control of Stratos in December 2025.
What raises or lowers the price buyers pay?
Piper Sandler names size, organic growth rate and a track record of acquisitions as the biggest drivers of the EBITDA multiple. Advisor Growth Strategies links premium prices to strong organic growth, a client niche, an engaged next-generation team and simple investment operations. It found that flat or declining growth, key-person or client-exit risk, no next-generation pathway and layered investment products count against a firm.
How are RIA deals usually paid for?
Succession Resource Group's 2025 review found that more than half of deals used third-party financing. Earn-outs are coming back, and many sellers carry notes or accept contingent payments. Prices are rarely made public. Most targets in this tracker hold about $130 million to $2 billion in client assets, though a few, such as RWA Wealth Partners ($22 billion), are much larger.
Methodology & sources
This list was compiled on Oct 5, 2026 and then checked adversarially. We re-read 58 pages in full: platform and sponsor press releases, Form ADV brochures, trade press such as WealthManagement.com, InvestmentNews, Citywire and Barron's, and the industry reports cited. We also ran 38 Parallel searches whose excerpts we used. For each platform we checked its owner for 2025-2026 sales, recapitalizations and new investors. A deal was kept only if a source we read named the target, the acquirer, a month and the target's location.
Multiple sources
- Piper Sandler, 2024 Asset & Wealth Management Whitepaper (Mar 2025) ↗
- Advisor Growth Strategies 2026 RIA Deal Room Report, via WealthManagement.com (Mar 25, 2026) ↗
- Succession Resource Group 2025 Advisor M&A review, via Business Valuation Resources ↗
- First Page Sage, Financial Services EBITDA Multiples (last updated Dec 12, 2024); columns are $1-3M, $3-5M, $5-10M EBITDA ↗
- buyAUM, Recasted EBITDA vs. SDE for an RIA Valuation (Aug 7, 2026) ↗
- Peak Business Valuation, Valuation Multiples for a Wealth Management Firm ↗
Market sources
- Investment Adviser Association / Comply, 2026 Investment Adviser Industry Snapshot ↗
- ECHELON Partners, 2025 RIA M&A Deal Report ↗
- DeVoe & Company, Q4 2025 RIA Deal Book ↗
- Piper Sandler, 2024 Asset & Wealth Management Whitepaper ↗
- ECHELON Partners, 2Q 2026 RIA M&A Deal Report ↗
- Axios Pro, PE-backed RIA buyers in Q2 2026 (Aug 28, 2026) ↗
Last updated October 6, 2026. Platform ownership last verified October 6, 2026. Ownership in this sector changes frequently; figures reflect the most recent public sources available and are not investment, legal, or tax advice.
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