Los Angeles, October 27 /PRNewswire/ — ECHELON Partners today released its Q3 2026 RIA M&A Report, showing that wealth management M&A is still on track to set an annual record. The ECHELON team recorded 125 transactions announced this quarter¹, matching the most active Q3 on record in 2025 and, combined with the 142 transactions announced in Q1 2026, ranking as the second-highest quarterly total in history. A total of 387 transactions were announced in the first nine months of 2026, setting a nine-month record and representing a 12.2% increase compared to the same period in 2025. The total assets under management in transactions this quarter reached $389 billion.
The report findings indicate a well-capitalized market with increasingly defined roles for all parties. Private equity firms participated in 102 of the 125 transactions this quarter, either as direct investors or sponsor buyers. Sponsors provide capital through minority equity investments in large platforms, while strategic acquirers—nearly all backed by private equity—complete the acquisitions. This edition also introduces a CEO Executive Summary by Dan Seivert, CEO and Managing Partner of ECHELON Partners, along with the RIA M&A Activity Continuum, which together contextualize the quarter’s announced transactions within a longer-term framework.
Seivert said: "Announced trading volumes do not equate to current M&A activity. Announcements are lagging indicators, and much of what will unfold over the next few quarters is already in motion. In our own business, seller advisory, new project engagements, and buyer participation in marketing processes remain strong."
Key trends shaping the Q3 2026 events
Buyers pay for niche expertise, not just assets.
Acquirers are increasingly targeting companies that serve specific client segments or offer scalable service capabilities, such as The Vistria Group’s investment in Curi Capital, which serves healthcare professionals, and Corient’s acquisition of Music Row Wealth Management, which serves country music artists. Transactions centered on tax and institutional advisory capabilities are particularly concentrated.
Buyers backed by private equity still dominate, but their share has slightly decreased.
In the quarter’s announced transactions, private equity-backed acquirers accounted for 92 out of 125 deals, or 73.6%, below the historical high of 75.8% set in the second quarter of 2026; meanwhile, transactions involving private equity firms as direct investors or sponsors increased from 99 to 102. RIA-reported transactions reached a record 81.6%, while one-time buyers announced 15 deals, up from the second-quarter low of five.
Sponsor capital events dominate the largest transactions.
The three largest transactions this quarter were all minority equity capital events rather than sales: Merchant Investment Management holds a 25.9% stake in Ironbark Financial Group, which manages $66.6 billion in assets; Hamilton Lane established a $270 million continuation vehicle for Savant, a $57 billion platform; and Carlyle invested $600 million in Prime Capital, a $50 billion platform. Strategic acquirers announced 26 of the 37 transactions of $1 billion or more this quarter, all but one of which were direct acquisitions, led by Wealth Enhancement Group’s acquisition of RWA Wealth Partners, which manages $22.5 billion in assets, and Corient’s acquisition of Summit Trail Advisors, which manages $21 billion in assets.
Large transactions by the acquirer have decreased, but there has been no sustained shift toward smaller transactions.
This quarter, 10 buy-side firms announced three or more transactions, totaling 47 deals, including 12 transactions of $1 billion or more—down from 15 in the second quarter of 2026; the median transaction size for these buyers also declined to approximately $573 million, compared to the previous $810 million. Five of the 12 transactions came from Hightower, four of which involved transferring affiliated businesses into its Signature Wealth platform, indicating that the largest repeat acquirers continue shifting from “integration through acquisition” to “integration through operations.” Year-to-date in 2026, the average deal size has been $1.9 billion², still above the annual average of $1.7 billion from 2021 to 2025.
WealthTECH trading hits record levels as the platform accelerates integration.
In the third quarter of 2026, WealthTECH transaction volume reached a record 51 deals, a 27.5% increase from the 40 deals in the third quarter of 2025. Vanguard’s acquisition of Altruist made custody services the focal point of the quarter, while the largest transactions by assets under management included Ascensus’s recapitalization ($1.3 trillion in AUA) and the acquisition of Russell Investments ($416 billion in AUM).
Take a more comprehensive view of the RIA acquisition
The newly added CEO executive summary, grounded in ECHELON’s 25 years of consulting experience in wealth management, explains how the market has evolved and what this means for the coming year. Complementing it is a continuum of RIA M&A activity—a new framework for understanding transaction activity that sheds light on movements occurring before official announcements and largely outside the public eye. The report also details what is included in ECHELON’s core metrics and how adjacent domains, from technology to retirement platforms, are reshaping the industry.
2026 Outlook: Another Record on the Horizon
Looking ahead, ECHELON Partners expects transaction volume to reach approximately 510 in 2026, up from its previous July forecast of 500, surpassing the 2025 record of 466 transactions. The structural drivers of industry consolidation remain intact. According to ECHELON, the constraint lies on the sell-side: the company estimates that only about 2.9% of its approximately 17,000 registered advisors execute transactions annually, while a healthy market could support a level closer to 5%.
Seivert added, "Our goal is to move beyond counting transactions and instead interpret and predict them. According to our data, 2026 is poised to be the most active year in the industry's history."
This Q3 2026 RIA M&A transaction report provides a detailed analysis of transaction activity and the strategic forces shaping the next phase of industry consolidation.
The full report is available for download at https://www.echelon-partners.com/research-and-insights/.
About ECHELON Partners
ECHELON Partners is an investment bank and advisory firm focused on the wealth and investment management industries, founded by Dan Seivert in 2001, and set to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2026. ECHELON provides mergers and acquisitions advisory, financing, valuation, and strategic consulting services to RIAs, broker-dealers, and other financial services firms. Since 2015, ECHELON has published its award-winning RIA M&A Transaction Report, tracking quarterly transaction activity and consolidation trends, and is frequently cited by leading wealth and financial media outlets.
¹ The total reflects ECHELON's core U.S. wealth management transaction statistics. WealthTECH and other "non-core" transactions are counted separately.
Excludes trades with AUM exceeding $20 billion.