Acquirers in DeVoe’s “other” category, meaning any entity purchasing an RIA that is not a bank, consolidator or RIA, are playing a larger role in M&A activity. In 2016, “other” acquirers, including private equity firms, diversified financial service companies, broker-dealers, tech companies and firms in other sectors, were responsible for 23 ercent of the transactions.
Projecting forward, DeVoe anticipates that RIA M&A activity may accelerate dramatically over the net five to seven years as the independent model “continues to resonate” with investors and RIAs become more attractive to a wider breadth of buyers. As sellers, RIA owners are becoming more “open and strategic” with their decisions to sell and merge, motivated by the benefits of scale when meeting challenges of geography, technology and compliance.
Published quarterly, the RIA Deal Book is DeVoe’s industry deal tracker and fact book.