The Trading Market Signals RIA M&A Deal Tracker follows the pace, size, and ownership of registered investment adviser mergers and acquisitions through 2026, a year that opened with the busiest quarter the industry has ever recorded. As of June 8, 2026, RIA M&A reached a record 142 transactions in the first quarter, moving roughly $1.67 trillion in assets, with private equity involved in 71.8% of all deals announced.
Market gauge (2026)
| Metric | Reading | Year-over-year | Source | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 deal count (Echelon) | 142 transactions (record) | Prior high 125 | Echelon Partners | Q1 2026 |
| Q1 deal count (DeVoe) | 93 transactions | +24% | DeVoe & Company | Q1 2026 |
| Assets transacted (Q1) | ~$1.67 trillion | +107% vs $805B | Echelon Partners | Q1 2026 |
| PE-involved share | 71.8% (102 of 142) | Record 95 PE-sponsored | Echelon Partners | Q1 2026 |
| Average seller AUM | ~$1.16 billion | Up from $1.06B (2025) | DeVoe & Company | Q1 2026 |
| Full-year deal projection | ~475 transactions | Past 2025 record of 466 | Echelon Partners | 2026E |
Recent deal tape (2026)
| Buyer | Seller / team | Approx. assets | Backer | Note | Announced |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modern Wealth Management | Flaharty Asset Management (FL) | ~$1.1B | PE-backed | 22nd deal since 2023 launch; 2nd in Florida in two months | Jun 2026 |
| Waverly Advisors | WealthPlans + Cooley & Associates (MD) | Firm to ~$35.5B | Wealth Partners Capital Group / HGGC Aspire | 33rd deal; tax & accounting tuck-in | Jun 2026 |
| Arax Investment Partners | Wells Fargo breakaway team (Hudson Valley, NY) | ~$1.5B | RedBird Capital Partners | 6th deal of the year; wirehouse breakaway | Jun 2026 |
| Corient (Mubadala) | Capital Advisors (Tulsa, OK) | ~$7.8B | Mubadala-backed | Upmarket acquisition | May 2026 |
| Stratos Wealth | 11 partner practices (7 states) | ~$4.8B | PE-backed | Succession-driven partner roll-in | May 2026 |
| Bluespring Wealth Partners | Synthesis Wealth (NJ) | ~$1.1B | Kestra / Stone Point | Multi-practice roll-up | May 2026 |
| Beacon Pointe Advisors | New England RIA | ~$4B | KKR-backed | Regional expansion | 2026 |
| Captrust | Pennsylvania RIA (5 offices) | ~$1.25B | GTCR / Carlyle | Footprint build-out | 2026 |
What does the tracker measure?
This page follows the deal-making that is consolidating the registered investment adviser industry: the quarterly count of announced transactions, the assets that change hands, the share of deals backed or sponsored by private equity, the average size of sellers, and a running tape of named transactions. Where two research firms report the same quarter on different methodologies, we show both rather than pick one. Each figure carries a named source and an explicit “as of” date, and we update the tables as new quarterly reports and deal announcements land.
Why is RIA M&A still accelerating?
After several years of predictions that rising rates or a saturated field of buyers would slow consolidation, the pace keeps climbing. Private equity supplies the capital, retiring founders supply the sellers, and the average deal keeps getting larger as buyers move upmarket. The newer pattern is the kind of buyer: serial acquirers now grow on two fronts at once, absorbing whole RIAs and recruiting wirehouse breakaway teams, while bolting on adjacent tax and accounting practices to own more of the client relationship. The result is a market where a quality seller has more credible bidders than ever, and a poor cultural fit has fewer than the headline count suggests.
What it means for advisors and sellers
The buyer across the table has changed, and the leverage has shifted with it. Our full analysis of the early-June deal wave, the two-front consolidation model, and three questions for a selling principal is in Serial RIA acquirers open June buying firms and breakaway teams at once. For the move upmarket in seller size, see RIA M&A concentration and the seller’s market, and for the record first quarter that set the pace, see Echelon’s record 142-deal quarter.
Last updated June 8, 2026. This tracker is provided for information only and is not investment advice. Figures are compiled from public reporting and company announcements and are accurate as of the dates shown; reliance on any information is at the reader’s sole risk.