DeVoe’s nebulous “other” category, comprising buyers that are not RIAs, consolidators or banks, accounted for 20 transactions and 20% of the total activity in 2019. The report’s authors note that private equity firms, broker/dealers and other large financial institutions made up the bulk of this group.
David DeVoe, managing director at DeVoe and Company, noted in a commentary that the growth of mergers and acquisitions could foretell the period of increased consolidation that many industry watchers have anticipated.
“This unprecedented level of activity is good for the industry,” said DeVoe. “A steady ramp toward healthy levels of activity is better than a deluge of sellers flooding the market in a given year.”
In fact, the Deal Book says that the dramatic rise in transactions represents a move toward the expected level of dealmaking for an industry with over 5,000 firms—theoretically, 250 to 300 annual transactions should be taking place for succession planning alone, according to the report.
See the Financial Advisor story, "Firm Selling Prices Are Set Too High."