BlogRIA M&A
How to get your RIA ready for an acquisition
Make the firm cheaper and less risky to buy: show how the work actually runs, take the founder out of the back office, and keep a record a buyer can verify.
For firms of $500M and up, where buyer demand is concentrated. A 24-month plan your team can start without announcing anything.
- 99%of agent runs complete successfully
- ~45 minon average to build your first agent
- 1M+back-office tasks completed
By Jason Alafgani
A 24-month readiness plan
| When | Operations | Leadership |
|---|---|---|
| Months 1 to 3 | Map the repetitive work; inventory systems, contracts, agreements and fee schedules | Decide the goal for clients and staff; understand your valuation drivers |
| Months 4 to 12 | Clean the CRM; fix fee mismatches; automate the work that depends on one person | Shift relationships to next-generation advisors; track organic growth |
| Months 13 to 18 | Run the automations long enough to have a record; consolidate documents | Engage advisers; meet buyers; ask each how they integrate |
| Months 19 to 24 | Build the data room from systems, not spreadsheets | Negotiate structure and earnout; plan client communication with the CCO |
01Map it
You can't show a buyer how the work gets done.
Process docs on a shared drive describe the intended process, not the one people run. Diligence asks for the real one.
Workshops and interviews the month before the data room opens.
Discover finds the repetitive work across the tools your team already uses, so the map reflects what actually happens.
02De-risk it
Too much of the back office depends on the founder.
Buyers price key-person risk. Relationships take years to transfer; the operational part can move in months.
Write it down and hope someone follows it.
Automate turns it into automations, such as custodian paperwork filled from the CRM and sent through DocuSign, that run the same way every time.
03Protect the team
The sale runs on your operations team's evenings.
They answer diligence, export data, then chase every consent and signature after close, all while serving clients. That is where good people leave mid-transition.
Overtime, temps and a very long year.
The burst lands on automations instead of people, and Govern keeps a record of every run for the buyer and your CCO.
Caddi
See how Caddi AI Agents can map how your firm actually runs before a buyer asks and make your back office run without its founder
Frequently asked questions
How do I prepare my RIA for sale?
Start two to three years out. Clean the CRM so every household is complete and unique, put every client on a current advisory agreement with billing that matches it, document how onboarding, account opening, billing and reviews actually get done, reduce how much of that work depends on the founder, list every system and vendor contract, and build a next-generation team clients will stay with. Each step shortens diligence and lowers the risk a buyer prices in.
Does operational readiness affect what a buyer will pay for an RIA?
Buyers pay for lower risk and easier integration. Published guidance runs from about 5x EBITDA for founder-dependent practices to 15x or more for institutional-quality firms (CT Acquisitions 2026, via The Wealth Advisor). Size, growth and the team explain much of that spread; how the firm runs explains the rest, and it is the part an owner can change in two to three years.
What size RIA do acquirers want?
Large consolidators are concentrating above $500M. In a May 2026 DeVoe & Company survey of 11 large consolidators, 46% preferred targets of $1B to $5B, 27% preferred $500M to $1B and none preferred $100M to $500M. The median seller in 2026 through Q3 had $625M in AUM (DeVoe).
How do I reduce founder dependence before selling my firm?
Separate relationship dependence from operational dependence. Relationships move to next-generation advisors over time, through joint meetings and shared coverage. Operational dependence, where the founder is the only one who knows how a trust account gets opened or which clients have a special fee, can be written down and much of it automated, so the work runs the same way whoever is in the office.
How does Caddi help an RIA get ready for an acquisition?
Discover finds the repetitive work in the tools the team already uses, which shows how the firm actually runs. Automate turns that work into automations that run the same way every time, such as filling custodian paperwork from the CRM household and sending it through DocuSign. Govern keeps a record of every run. Caddi does not value firms, find buyers or advise on deal terms.
What do buyers pay more for in an RIA?
Published 2025 to 2026 deal research names organic growth, an engaged next-generation team, simple investment operations, a client niche, recurring revenue with strong retention, and scale. Founder dependence, flat growth and size under $500M push the multiple down.
What data should an RIA clean before a sale?
The CRM first: one household per family, no duplicates, complete dates of birth, addresses, beneficiaries and relationships. Then agreements and fees (every client on a current agreement, billing matching each one), documents in one system with a standard structure, and a list of every vendor contract with its notice period. The buyer will migrate all of it.