It was another record-breaking year for mergers and acquisitions among registered investment advisor firms, with at least 205 deals for the entire year versus 203 deals in 2019, marking an all-time high for the eighth consecutive year, according to a report by ECHELON Partners.

But that was not all. The transactions represented a shift in the buyers’ landscape this year. There were several new players entering the wealth management industry, private equity firms ramped up purchases through direct and secondary investments, and the industry’s high profitability and steady cashflows are increasingly attracting new entrants and resulting in increased competition and higher valuations, Echelon noted.

The year also turned in a record increase in average assets under management per deal over 2019, according to ECHELON's fourth-quarter RIA mergers and acquisitions report. The average AUM acquired per transaction grew to more than $1.8 billion, a 24% increase over last year’s average of $1.5 billion, the highest annual average to date.

The following is a list of the top 10 M&A transactions, based on AUM from lowest to highest. As noted by Echelon, the list illustrates three key trends: minority investments by private equity, retirement plan asset consolidation and Wall Street banks buying main street investors.

10. Dyal Capital Partners/Iconiq Capital
Last month, New York private equity firm Dyal Capital Partners acquired a minority stake in San Francisco.-based Iconiq Capital, an investment firm that manages wealth for the ultra-wealthy with $39.6 billion in AUM.