Top RIA Channel Updates for October 2025

There was no break in the action in October following a record third quarter for RIA M&A activity, with Dakota tracking 33 M&A deals during the month. Those deals involved just shy of an eye-watering $300B in AUM, though that tally was heavily skewed by TPG- and General Atlantic-backed Creative Planning’s blockbuster acquisition of $250B SageView Advisory Group.

That deal is the latest example of the trend of large, independent RIAs moving into the retirement plan market, a lower-margin but rapidly consolidating sector that offers significant cross-selling opportunities. At the same time, retirement specialists like SageView have been pushing into private wealth, seeking to serve participants transitioning from workplace plans to personal portfolios. With the sale, Aquiline Capital Partners exits its investment in SageView.

Meanwhile, another blockbuster deal that had been rumored for some time is now apparently off, with $308B RIA Edelman Financial Engines, whose backers include Warburg Pincus and Hellman & Friedman, reportedly halting its sale process. Still, with 2025 M&A activity already surpassing 2024’s totals, Dynasty Financial Partners and advisor consulting firm Diamond Consultants are looking to get in on some of that M&A advisory action. The two have partnered to launch the Breakaway Investment Banking Initiative, aimed at advising wirehouse teams managing $1B or more in assets. 

Elsewhere on the sponsor-backed investment front, Rockefeller Capital Management recapitalized at an enterprise valuation of over $6.6B, with an investor group led by Mousse Partners, Progeny 3, and Abrams Capital, which joined existing shareholders Viking Global Investors, the Rockefeller family, and IGM Financial, in which the Desmarais family holds an interest. And finally, looking overseas, another big deal could be in the offing, as Permira and Warburg Pincus could soon be exiting their investment in Evelyn Partners, with Royal Bank of Canada reportedly emerging as the leading contender to acquire the £65B ($87B) UK-based wealth manager. 

Read on for a roundup of all the month’s RIA M&A and sponsor-backed investment news.

Announced M&A

Northeast

• ESL Federal Credit Union agreed to acquire Alesco Advisors, a Rochester, NY-based RIA with $6B in assets under advisement that serves institutions, individuals, families, and retirement plans. 
• CAPTRUST Financial Advisors, which is backed by Carlyle and GTCR, acquired Cobblestone Capital Advisors, a $3.1B Rochester, NY-based firm that provides investment management and wealth management services, as well as private investments and family office services.
• La Jolla, CA-based RIA AlphaCore Wealth Advisory acquired SPC Financial, a Rockville, MD-based wealth and tax services firm, adding $1.5B in client assets and nearly 40 professionals, significantly boosting AlphaCore's presence on the East Coast.
• $1.5B AUM New York City-based Wealthstream Advisors merged with Towson, MD-based Greenspring Advisors in an all-stock deal, with the combined firm – which will operate under the Greenspring name – managing $10B in client assets and operation out of offices in Towson, New York City, Paramus, NJ, and Lancaster, PA.
• KKR-backed, Newport Beach, CA-based Beacon Pointe Advisors was busy in October, acquiring The Family Firm, an $857M RIA based in Bethesda, MD, as well as Sensible Financial Planning, a Waltham, MA-based wealth manager with $944M in client assets. 
• Allworth Financial acquired Norwood, MA-based RIA Shorepoint Capital Partners, which manages $850M in client assets, lifting Allworth’s total AUM to over $31B.
• Atlanta-based, Constellation Wealth Capital-backed Merit Financial Advisors acquired Obsidian Planning Solutions, a $476M advisory that specializes in business succession planning and provides financial planning for business owners with offices in Rockville and Columbia, MD.
• New York-based RIA Farther Finance Advisors reportedly acquired Masso Torrence Wealth, a $400M wealth management and 401(k) advice team in Marlton, NJ, that primarily works with physicians.
• Carson Group, which is backed by Bain Capital, fully acquired a Pittsburgh-based affiliate location led by managing partner and wealth advisor Neal McGrath, adding $358M in assets under management. 
• AssetMark Financial, which has $158B in platform assets, struck a deal to acquire $3B Philadelphia-based RIA Efficient Advisors from its current owner – Lee Equity Partners-backed Fiduciary Services Group (FSG).
• Employee-owned Connecticut Wealth Management acquired Conry Asset Management, a wealth advisory in Kensington, CT, that was affiliated with Commonwealth Financial Network.

Southeast

• Insigneo Financial Group, which is backed by Bain and J.C. Flowers, agreed to acquire the client accounts of Miami-based wealth management and institutional brokerage firm VectorGlobal Wealth Management Group and its RIA, adding more than $4B in client assets and boosting its total AUM to $35B. 
• BIP Wealth acquired fellow Atlanta-area wealth management firm Prehmus Financial Partners in a blended cash and equity deal, adding $900M in client assets. 
• Arax Investment Partners firm Ashton Thomas Private Wealth acquired Day Hagan, a Sarasota, FL-based wealth and asset management company reporting $842.8M in regulatory AUM as of its latest Form ADV filing. 
• Cerity Partners acquired Oak Hill Wealth Advisors, a Lansdowne, VA-based wealth management firm with $603M assets under management, expanding Cerity’s footprint in the Metro Washington, DC, market.
• Austin, TX-based Bluespring Wealth Partners picked up its fifth Kestra-affiliated firm of the year with the acquisition of $300M Richmond, VA-based Ray Olson LLC. Stone Point Capital-backed Kestra is the parent company of Bluespring. Source
• Lovell Minnick-backed Americana Partners acquired $300M Nashville, TN-based investment advisory firm Goodpasture Gray, establishing Houston-based Americana's presence in the Tennessee market with a specialized practice focused on serving high-net-worth individuals, including athletes and entertainers. 
• Galway Holdings-backed RIA MAI Capital Management acquired Liberty Private Client, a Fort Myers, FL-based RIA managing $245M in client assets, expanding MAI’s footprint in the Southeast and along the East Coast. 
• Cleveland-based, independently owned $7B RIA Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired AHL Investment Management, a Florida-based wealth management firm with $220M in AUM. 

Midwest

• New York-listed financial services group Equitable agreed to acquire St. Louis, MO-based Stifel Independent Advisors from parent Stifel Financial, in a deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approval. The deal will add about $9B in client assets and 110 independent advisors to Equitable Advisors’ 4,500 financial professionals and $110B in AUA.  
• Rise Growth Partners-backed OnePoint BFG Wealth Partners entered the Chicago area with the acquisition of $2B Spahn Financial Partners, boosting OnePoint’s AUM to $15B.
• Rothschild Wealth Partners acquired Siligmueller & Norvid Wealth Advisors, an independent advisory firm in Glen Ellyn, IL, managing $300M in client assets. 
• While it may no longer be seeking a buyer, mega RIA Edelman Financial Engines is still on the hunt for acquisitions, buying Hasenberg Financial Group, an Eau Claire, WI-based advisory firm with $300M in client assets. 
• Creative Planning showed appetite for deals of all sizes during the month, agreeing to acquire Pennsylvania-based RIA Financial Abundance and its $275M in client AUM. 

Southwest

• In the lone Southwest region deal for October, Focus Partners Wealth, a member of the Clayton, Rice & Dubilier-backed Focus Financial ecosystem, completed its acquisition of Tucson, AZ-based Sonora Investments, adding approximately $2.4B in AUM. 

West

• Minneapolis-based NorthRock Partners acquired WGG Wealth Partners, a $2.7B advisory firm in Roseville, CA, accelerating NorthRock’s expansion on the West Coast.
• Corient, the US wealth arm of CI Financial, which was recently acquired by Mubadala, acquired Bellevue, WA-based Bristlecone Advisors, a $2B multifamily office. 
• Constellation Wealth Capital-backed, San Francisco-based Perigon Wealth Management acquired Edison, NJ-based Gitterman Wealth Management and Gitterman Asset Management, which manage $1.3B in total client assets. 
• Mercer Global Advisors acquired Los Angeles-based Singer Burke, a wealth management, tax, and business management firm that includes $1.2B RIA SB Capital Management and will form the basis of a new specialized practice serving media and entertainment professionals. 
• Focus Financial’s Badgely Phelps Wealth Managers agreed to acquire fellow Seattle-based firm Marshall & Sullivan, adding $439M in AUM and bringing the firm’s total AUM to around $6.6B. Focus is backed by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice and Stone Point Capital. 
• Bain Capital-backed Carson Group acquired Anchorage, AK-based Shilanski & Associates, which was founded in 1981 by US Air Force veteran Floyd Shilanski and his wife Rosa Shilanski and manages $436M in client assets.
• Great Hill Partners-backed Mission Wealth Management acquired Diversified Asset Management, a Boulder, CO-based wealth management firm with $126M in client assets. 

Rumored M&A

Retirement plan provider Empower is reportedly exploring the acquisition of a national RIA to accelerate growth of its personal wealth arm, $100B Empower Personal Wealth, and strengthen its high-net-worth expertise. While the firm continues to expand organically, CEO Ed Murphy said the right RIA acquisition – with talent, a national footprint, and strong leadership – could help Empower compete more aggressively in wealth management. 

Chicago-based RIA Vivaldi Capital Management, which oversaw $4.6B in client assets as of its most recent Form ADV filing, is reportedly exploring a sale. The firm, founded in 2012 and owned by its senior leadership, including co-founders David Sternberg and Randal Golden, has tapped PL Advisors to assist in the process. 

Sponsor-backed Investments

US private equity firm Kelso & Co. is investing CAD 400M ($285.1M) for a 25% minority stake in Wellington-Altus Financial at an enterprise value of CAD 1.5B ($1.07B). Wellington-Altus has a number of businesses including Independent Advisor Solutions and Wellington-Altus Private Wealth. The transaction gives existing Canadian shareholders of Wellington-Altus the opportunity to partially divest their interest in the firm. 

Rise Growth Partners took a minority investment in Krilogy, a St. Louis-based RIA with more than 40 advisors managing over $4B in client assets. The investment is Rise Growth’s third in an RIA and will enable Krilogy, which serves a variety of clients that includes entrepreneurs and multigenerational families, to scale its operations. Deal terms were not disclosed.

Notable International News

Canada-based financial services group Canaccord Genuity is reportedly exploring the sale of its UK wealth management arm, holding talks with potential private equity bidders including CVC and Advent. The firm has retained London-based boutique investment bank Fenchurch Advisory to advise on a potential sale, with possibilities of a formal process starting later this quarter. A potential deal could value the business at around £1B ($1.34B). BlackRock-owned private credit firm HPS, which owns a minority stake in the business, could also exit as part of a sale.

Royal Bank of Canada has reportedly emerged as the leading contender to acquire £65B ($87B) Evelyn Partners. The UK-based wealth manager, which reportedly engaged Evercore to oversee the sales process, is backed by Permira and Warburg Pincus.

Opera Group, a privately held company of fiduciary, corporate and fund administration businesses majority backed by Pula, the family office of British billionaire Stephen Lansdown, acquired UK-based Accuro, which manages the wealth of families, entrepreneurs, and family businesses, overseeing $24.5B in assets.