BlogRIA M&A
RIA aggregators: who's buying, and how they integrate
Most RIA deals now go to PE-backed aggregators, and only 5 of the 27 most active say publicly how they integrate the firms they buy.
SEC-filed AUM, owners, recent deals and stated integration model for each, every fact linked to its source.
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By Jason Alafgani
The 27 most active RIA acquirers
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| Acquirer | Regulatory AUM | Ownership | Recent deal activity | Stated integration model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAPTRUST Raleigh, NC Regulatory AUM is mostly retirement-plan advisory assets, so it is not comparable to private-wealth AUM. | $1.24T ADV Sep 2026 | Minority private equity investors GTCR and Carlyle; CEO is the largest individual shareholder [source] | No count found | Not published |
| Edelman Financial Engines Santa Clara, CA AUM includes workplace managed-account assets. | $326B ADV Oct 2026 | Hellman & Friedman (majority) and Warburg Pincus [source] | 9 RIA acquisitions in three years, as of October 2025 [source] | Not published |
| Creative Planning Overland Park, KS | $296B ADV Jul 2026 | CEO retains majority ownership; minority investors General Atlantic and TPG [source] | Led all acquirers by assets acquired, July 2025 to June 2026 (Fidelity) [source] | Not published |
| Hightower Chicago, IL | $199B ADV Oct 2026 | Thomas H. Lee Partners (lead investor since 2018) [source] | 15 deals in 2026 through Q3, 12 within its existing network (DeVoe) [source] | Not published |
| Focus Financial Partners St. Louis, MO AUM is Focus Partners Wealth only; partner firms file their own ADVs. | $182B ADV Sep 2026 | Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Stone Point Capital (take-private closed 2023) [source] | Named among the most active acquirers of 2025 (Echelon) [source] | Not published |
| Corient Miami, FL | $165B ADV Aug 2026 | Mubadala Capital, through its 2025 take-private of parent CI Financial [source] | 8 deals in 2026 through Q3 (DeVoe) [source] | Integrated firm with a private partnership model (partners own equity) [source] |
| Cerity Partners New York, NY | $162B ADV Jul 2026 | Employees just over 50%; Genstar Capital, Warburg Pincus and Lightyear Capital minority [source] | 5 deals in the first half of 2026 (Fidelity) [source] | Not published |
| Mariner Overland Park, KS Other Mariner RIAs file separate ADVs. | $125B ADV Oct 2026 | CEO holds majority control; minority stakes held by Leonard Green & Partners and Neuberger Berman [source] | 10 acquisitions in 2025 through September 30 (Echelon) [source] | Not published |
| Wealth Enhancement Group Plymouth, MN | $122B ADV Aug 2026 | TA Associates and Onex (majority owners); a sale process was reported in July 2026 [source] | 17 deals in 2025, the most of any buyer (DeVoe); 16 in 2026 through Q3 (DeVoe) [source] | Not published |
| Mercer Advisors Denver, CO | $84.4B ADV Sep 2026 | Genstar Capital, Oak Hill Capital and Altas Partners; over 300 employees hold equity [source] | 13 deals, July 2025 to June 2026 (Fidelity) [source] | Not published |
| Kestra (Bluespring Wealth Partners) Austin, TX AUM is Kestra Advisory Services only. | $79.8B ADV Sep 2026 | Stone Point Capital funds (majority); Oak Hill Capital minority [source] | Bluespring: 9 acquisitions in 2025; 6th deal of 2026 in June [source] | Acquired firms keep their names and leadership (Bluespring) [source] |
| Savant Wealth Management Rockford, IL | $55.6B ADV Jul 2026 | Employees are the largest shareholder; Cynosure Partners and Kelso & Company hold about 30% [source] | Most active acquirer of the first half of 2026, 9 deals (Fidelity) [source] | Not published |
| Beacon Pointe Advisors Newport Beach, CA | $54.9B ADV Aug 2026 | KKR minority investment (2021); management retains majority control [source] | Most active acquirer July 2025 to June 2026, 20 deals (Fidelity) [source] | Not published |
| Carson Group Omaha, NE AUM is CWM, LLC (Carson Wealth) only. | $50.6B ADV Oct 2026 | Bain Capital minority stake (2021); founder remained majority owner at the time [source] | 6 deals in Q2 2026 (Echelon) [source] | Not published |
| Prime Capital Financial Overland Park, KS | $39.1B ADV Jun 2026 | Employees keep majority ownership; Carlyle minority stake (2026) [source] | No count found | Not published |
| Steward Partners Stamford, CT | $36.7B ADV Sep 2026 | Employee-owned; minority partners include Cynosure Group, The Pritzker Organization and Ares [source] | No count found | Not published |
| Sanctuary Wealth Miami, FL | $34.9B ADV Sep 2026 | Azimut Group took a majority stake in 2020; current ownership not confirmed [source] | No count found | Partnership program taking minority stakes in partner firms [source] |
| Wealthspire New York, NY AUM is Wealthspire Advisors only. | $34.3B ADV Apr 2026 | Madison Dearborn Partners (bought NFP's wealth business from Aon, announced 2025) [source] | Agreed to acquire Fi3 Advisors in May 2026 [source] | Not published |
| Allworth Financial Folsom, CA | $33.5B ADV Jul 2026 | Integrum Holdings led a new investment (2026); employee and advisor shareholders keep significant ownership [source] | No count found | Not published |
| Waverly Advisors Birmingham, AL | $29.9B ADV Aug 2026 | Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC's Aspire Holdings (2021) [source] | 35 transactions since December 2021, as of July 2026 [source] | Not published |
| Arax New York, NY | $26.5B ADV Aug 2026 | RedBird Capital Partners (invested at the 2022 launch) [source] | No count found | Not published |
| Summit Financial Parsippany, NJ | $26.4B ADV Sep 2026 | Merchant Investment Management (majority owner of the parent since 2025) [source] | No count found | Hybrid: acquisitions plus minority equity partnerships (Summit Growth Partners) [source] |
| Merit Financial Advisors Alpharetta, GA | $23.9B ADV Sep 2026 | Advisor- and employee-owned; Constellation Wealth Capital minority stake (2025) [source] | 13 deals in 2025, second only to Wealth Enhancement (DeVoe) [source] | Not published |
| Choreo Rockford, IL | $19.1B ADV Sep 2026 | Parthenon Capital (backed the 2022 management buyout) [source] | 2026 deals include Northeast Financial Group and Herbein Financial Group [source] | Not published |
| Stratos Wealth Holdings Beachwood, OH | $18.6B ADV Oct 2026 | SEI Investments (57.5%, announced 2025); legacy holders keep the rest [source] | Most active acquirer of Q2 2026, 11 deals (Echelon) [source] | Not published |
| Modern Wealth Management Kansas City, MO | $10.9B ADV Jul 2026 | Crestview Partners (majority, through its 2023 launch commitment) [source] | No count found | Not published |
| Elevation Point Denver, CO | $8.3B ADV Sep 2026 | Emigrant Partners (minority investment and debt facility, 2025) [source] | Led all buyers in minority investments into RIAs, first half of 2026 (Fidelity) [source] | Minority partnerships [source] |
01For sellers
Most buyers don't publish how they integrate.
Only 5 of the 27 acquirers above state a model publicly. Your brand, staff, custodian and systems all depend on it.
Take "we preserve your culture" at face value and find out after close.
Document and automate your back office before diligence, so whichever model you get, the transition runs on automations, not your team's evenings.
02For acquirers
Deals close faster than operations can absorb them.
The busiest buyers closed 15 to 20 deals in a year. Each one is a burst of consents, repapering, data migration and billing work for the same small team.
Hire for every deal, or let integrations overlap and stall.
Build the integration once: consent and custodian paperwork prefilled from the CRM, sent through DocuSign and tracked. It runs the same way on the next deal.
03After ten deals
Nobody can see how each office actually runs.
Partnership models leave each firm's processes in place by design. Stalled integrations leave them by accident.
Spreadsheets and quarterly check-ins, office by office.
Govern shows every automated run across the firm, including every acquired office.
Caddi
See how Caddi AI Agents can integrate every acquisition the same way and absorb more deals without growing your operations team
Frequently asked questions
What is an RIA aggregator?
An RIA aggregator (also called a consolidator or roll-up) is a firm that grows by acquiring or investing in many independent registered investment advisers. Most are backed by private equity. Some fully integrate acquired firms onto one brand and platform; others take minority or majority stakes and let partner firms keep their names, leadership and much of their independence.
Who are the largest RIA aggregators?
By SEC regulatory AUM in their latest Form ADV filings, the largest private-wealth acquirers include Edelman Financial Engines, Creative Planning, Hightower, Focus Financial Partners, Corient, Cerity Partners, Mariner and Wealth Enhancement Group. CAPTRUST reports more, but its regulatory AUM is mostly retirement-plan advisory assets. Regulatory AUM covers only the named registered entity, so firms with several RIAs report more in total.
Which RIA acquirers are the most active?
It depends on the tracker. DeVoe & Company counted Wealth Enhancement Group as the most active acquirer of 2025 with 17 deals, and 16 more in 2026 through Q3. Fidelity named Beacon Pointe the most active from July 2025 to June 2026 with 20 deals and Savant the most active in the first half of 2026. Echelon named Stratos the most active in Q2 2026 with 11 deals.
What is the difference between an RIA aggregator, a consolidator and a partnership model?
The terms overlap. In practice the useful distinction is integration: a fully integrated acquirer moves the acquired firm onto its brand, systems and processes; a partnership or minority-stake model leaves the firm largely independent and provides capital and services; hybrids do both. Ask each buyer which one they would apply to your firm, because most do not publish it.
How much of RIA M&A is private-equity backed?
Most of it. Fidelity found that 89% of first-half 2026 RIA deals had PE-backed or PE-owned buyers, up from 86% a year earlier. Echelon put sponsor involvement at 75.8% of 2025 deals.
What should a seller ask an RIA aggregator before agreeing a deal?
Ask what happens to your brand, your staff and your technology; whether you will change custodians; how many of their recent acquisitions kept their name and leadership; what the integration timeline looks like and who does the work; how the earnout is measured; and whether you can speak to founders who sold to them two or more years ago.
Who are the minority investors behind RIA roll-ups?
Some of the most active capital comes from investors that are not advisers themselves, so they file no ADV AUM. Examples include Wealth Partners Capital Group, Merchant Investment Management, Emigrant Partners. They take minority stakes in RIAs and often back the acquirers themselves.
What happens to a firm after an RIA aggregator buys it?
It depends on the model. Full integration moves the brand, systems, custodian and processes to the acquirer's, which means the heaviest repapering and data migration. A majority stake where the firm keeps its name changes ownership and some back-office services but keeps the brand and leadership. A minority partnership provides capital and services and leaves the firm largely independent.