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Over the past several years, the RIA industry has seen a dramatic rise in mergers and acquisitions, resulting in significant consolidation across the channel. This trend has been driven by private equity investment, advisor succession planning, and the increasing need for scale in areas like compliance, technology, and operations.
As a result, RIA aggregators have emerged as dominant players, rapidly expanding and reshaping the independent wealth management landscape.
At Dakota, we’ve been navigating the RIA space since 2006. Over time, we’ve compiled data on more than 17,000 RIAs into Dakota Marketplace, including 6,000+ wealth manager RIAs. Within Dakota Marketplace, you’ll find centralized home office contacts for the top aggregators, along with detailed information on their underlying advisory teams, often referred to as child accounts.
For investment sales professionals, understanding who these aggregators are, how they’re structured, and how to approach them is critical. These firms oversee large pools of assets and often centralize investment decisions making them some of the most important buyers in the market.
In this article, we’ll highlight the top RIA aggregators you should know, explore what’s fueling their growth, and share best practices for effectively engaging with them in your investment sales efforts.
Top RIA Aggregators for Advisors & Asset Managers
1. Cerity Partners
Headquarters: New York City, NY
AUM: $122.85B
Cerity Partners is an RIA specializing as a multi-family office headquartered in New York City, with client exposure spanning the United States, Canada, the UK, and Europe. The firm manages approximately $122.8 billion in AUM across wealth advisory, retirement plan advisory, outsourced CIO services, and venture advisory, with an investment committee split into research and solutions groups overseeing manager due diligence and direct deals.
Cerity builds portfolios from a goals-and-constraints framework, combining diversified core sleeves with higher-conviction satellite allocations and tax-aware tools like direct indexing and PPLI for UHNW clients. Alternatives, including private equity, private credit, real assets, and venture allocations, are integrated across client portfolios through co-investment and separately managed vehicles, with centralized due diligence and risk oversight anchoring the firm's approach.
2. Hightower Advisors
Headquarters: New York City, NY
AUM: $198.58B
Hightower Advisors is an RIA specializing in multi-family office services, headquartered in New York City with an additional research presence in Chicago. The firm operates as a collective of roughly 140 independent advisor teams across 33 states, managing $198.58 billion in AUM through a decentralized model supported by an internal outsourced CIO function.
Hightower follows a core-satellite approach, pairing low-cost, diversified core exposures with conviction-driven satellite positions in active managers and thematic strategies tailored to each client. The firm places meaningful emphasis on alternatives, including private credit, private equity, real assets, and hedge-style strategies, accessed through direct manager relationships and interval fund structures, with all manager selection subject to institutional-grade due diligence and centralized risk oversight.
3. Wealth Enhancement Group
Headquarters: Minneapolis, MN
AUM: $122.19B
Wealth Enhancement Group is an RIA specializing in multi-family office services, headquartered in the Minneapolis metro area (Plymouth, MN), with over 75 offices nationwide serving more than 45,500 households. The firm manages approximately $122.19 billion in AUM, built through both organic growth and acquisitions, and maintains custody relationships with Schwab and Fidelity.
Wealth Enhancement Group uses a Plan-Led Investing approach, setting strategic allocation from the client's financial plan and implementing it through centrally managed Core Model Portfolios paired with tactical Satellite sleeves for client-specific needs. Alternatives, including interval funds and private real estate structures, are incorporated selectively for qualified clients, with a centralized Investment Committee overseeing manager due diligence, watch-list monitoring, and downside risk controls.
4. MAI Capital Management
Headquarters: Cleveland, OH
AUM: $52.10B
MAI Capital Management is an RIA specializing as a multi-family office headquartered in Cleveland, OH. Established in 1973, the firm is a full-service wealth manager serving high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth families, financial advisors, and institutional investors, with approximately $52.1 billion in AUM.
MAI employs a core-and-satellite approach, pairing a low-cost, tax-aware core allocation with actively managed satellite strategies like Focused Equity and High Income Equity portfolios tailored to client risk profiles. The firm places significant emphasis on alternatives, partnering with the iCapital platform to provide scalable access to private equity, private credit, venture capital, and hedge funds, with risk management overseen by an in-house investment committee.
5. EP Wealth Advisors
Headquarters: Los Angeles, CA
AUM: $45.15B
EP Wealth Advisors is an RIA specializing as a multi-family office headquartered in the Los Angeles metro area (Torrance, CA). Founded in 1999, the firm operates on a fiduciary, fee-only basis serving more than 15,000 households across roughly 45 offices in 16 states, with approximately $45.1 billion in AUM.
EP Wealth builds planning-first portfolios through UMA and SMA structures, combining broad core diversification with satellite sleeves for concentrated stock positions, tax overlays, and direct indexing tailored to each client's plan. Alternatives, including private equity, private credit, and DSTs for 1031 exchanges, are offered to qualified clients through third-party managers, with risk managed through options strategies, staged divestiture plans, and ongoing multi-disciplinary reviews with CPAs and estate attorneys.
6. Focus Partners Wealth
Headquarters: New York City, NY
AUM: $181.86B
Focus Partners Wealth (formerly The Colony Group) is an RIA specializing in multi-family office services, headquartered in Boston, MA, and operating within the New York City metro area as part of parent company Focus Financial Partners' unified wealth management framework. The firm manages approximately $181.86 billion in AUM, having grown substantially through mergers and acquisitions across investment management, financial planning, and estate planning services.
Focus Partners Wealth builds portfolios on Modern Portfolio Theory using systematic, rules-based core exposures through mutual funds and ETFs, with satellite sleeves addressing tax situations, concentrated stock, and charitable strategies. The firm takes a cautious, evidence-driven approach to alternatives, admitting only strategies with demonstrated low correlation and repeatable implementation, while risk management relies on continuous monitoring, quarterly rebalancing reviews, and institutional custodial platforms.
For all key contact information at these RIAs, book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
7. Rockefeller Capital Management
Headquarters: New York City, NY
AUM: $70.03B
Rockefeller Capital Management is an RIA specializing as a multi-family office headquartered in New York City, with a presence across more than 50 locations in the US and London. Originally established as the Rockefeller family office in 1882 and reestablished in 2018, the firm reports approximately $70.03 billion in AUM across its asset management, strategic advisory, and global family office business lines.
Rockefeller uses an advisory-led core-satellite framework, pairing a diversified core of equities and fixed income with thematic, ESG, and manager-selected active satellites, implemented through separate accounts, ETFs, and customized private vehicles. Alternatives serve as a material portfolio component, particularly for UHNW clients, spanning private equity, private credit, and real assets sourced through adviser networks, with risk managed through strategic asset allocation, scenario analysis, and bespoke hedging for concentrated positions.
8. William Blair
Headquarters: Chicago, IL
AUM: $64.28B
William Blair is an RIA headquartered in Chicago, functioning as a global boutique offering investment banking, investment management, and private wealth management. The firm manages approximately $64.28 billion in AUM across 100 advisors in offices spanning Chicago, New York, Boston, Baltimore, Atlanta, and San Francisco, with centralized research and custody through Fidelity.
William Blair combines an active, research-driven core with concentrated satellite positions, exemplified by its Large-Cap Growth strategy's 30-40 name portfolio built on sector-neutral, stock-selection-driven active return. Alternatives are accessed through curated private-markets channels via CAIS and iCapital alongside firm-managed liquid multi-asset strategies, with risk controlled through position-sizing limits, sector-neutrality targets, and proprietary quantitative models.
9. CAPTRUST Advisors
Headquarters: Raleigh, NC
AUM: $1.24T
CAPTRUST Advisors is an RIA specializing in multi-family office services, headquartered in Raleigh, NC. The firm manages approximately $1.24 trillion in AUM across institutional advisory (DC plans, endowments, foundations, pensions) and high-net-worth channels, growing the latter through recent acquisitions such as Aevitas Wealth Management.
CAPTRUST uses an IPS-driven policy framework with a centralized investment committee separating strategic core allocations from tactical satellite sleeves populated by specialist managers and liquid alternatives. Alternatives are integrated across the liquidity spectrum, from private equity and private credit to interval funds and daily-liquid alternative vehicles, with a dedicated research team and disciplined rebalancing and tax-aware trading anchoring risk control.
10. Mercer Advisors
Headquarters: Denver, CO
AUM: $84.40B
Mercer Advisors is an RIA operating as a multi-family office headquartered in Denver, CO. The firm manages approximately $84.4 billion in AUM, built through numerous acquisitions and overseen by a sixteen-person investment committee chaired by CIO Donald Calcagni.
Mercer runs a planning-first core-satellite framework, using low-cost passive core exposures with factor-tilted satellite sleeves via the Envestnet platform and a DFA focus. The firm offers curated alternatives, including its proprietary Aspen Partners private markets platform launched in 2024, spanning private equity, private credit, and venture capital, with risk managed through IPS-anchored diversification, factor attribution, and centralized rebalancing controls.
11. Corient Private Wealth
Headquarters: Miami, FL
AUM: $165.25B
Corient Private Wealth is an RIA headquartered in Miami, FL, specializing in wealth management for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients on a fiduciary, fee-only basis. The firm manages approximately $165.25 billion in AUM, offering family office services that integrate traditional and alternative investments to address complex financial needs.
Corient builds portfolios around a diversified institutional core using low-cost passive vehicles, layered with bespoke satellite positions from active managers and thematic strategies tailored to client objectives. The firm allocates meaningfully to alternatives, including private equity, private credit, and real assets, sourced through a centralized alternatives team and coordinated with tax and estate planning teams for liquidity and legacy objectives.
Best Practices for Navigating RIA Aggregators
When selling to RIA aggregators, it's essential to understand their structure and decision-making processes. Each aggregator typically has a centralized home office research team responsible for curating approved lists of investment strategies, maintaining select lists and model portfolios, and managing access to alternative investments. These teams play a key role in gatekeeping investment opportunities on behalf of their advisory network and clients.
However, many of these platforms also consist of individual underlying RIA teams or “child accounts” that conduct their own due diligence across asset classes. These teams can serve as important advocates for getting your strategy evaluated and ultimately placed on the platform.
In Dakota Marketplace, we’ve listed both the centralized home office research contacts for each aggregator, as well as the underlying advisory teams. This visibility allows investment sales professionals to identify and prioritize the right points of contact, whether targeting the home office or starting with teams that can influence adoption from the ground up.
For all key contact information at these RIAs, book a demo of Dakota Marketplace.
