Data sourced from Dakota Marketplace, the global LP and GP intelligence platform trusted by thousands of investment professionals. Learn More | Book a Demo
The largest platforms in the RIA space are approaching a wave of ownership transitions. Several are reportedly exploring sales or new capital right now, a pattern consistent with three-to-five-year PE hold periods from the 2020 to 2022 investment vintage reaching maturity.
For fundraisers, the timing detail matters more than the headline. The window to build a relationship with an acquirer's investment team is often widest in the weeks immediately after a deal signs, before a formal re-underwriting process locks in. Waiting for the integration to settle means arriving after the decisions are made.
Which means the work happens now, while these processes are still rumors.
In this article, we'll cover the five RIA platforms reportedly exploring a sale or recapitalization, what is driving the wave, and what to do about each one before an announcement lands.
The Five Platforms to Watch
1. Hightower Advisors - $353.7B AUM
Reportedly pursuing a controlling-stake sale, with Goldman Sachs and Ardea Partners retained to run the process. Thomas H. Lee Partners' ownership stretches back to 2017, which is well past a typical hold period. The largest process in the pipeline by a wide margin, and Hightower was still actively acquiring through Q2.
2. Summit Trail Advisors - $22.1B AUM
Reportedly exploring a sale following the departure of three partners to NewEdge Wealth in late 2025. Partner departures often precede a process rather than follow one, so this is worth treating as an active situation rather than a rumor in waiting.
3. The Mather Group - $17B+ AUM
The Chicago-based firm was reported earlier in the quarter to be pursuing a new PE backer as The Vistria Group seeks a partial exit. A sponsor swap rather than an outright sale, which usually means continuity in leadership but a fresh set of expectations on the investment platform.
4. Modern Wealth Management - $14B AUM
The Monterey, CA-based firm is exploring a recapitalization just over three years after its 2023 launch, backed by Crestview Partners. Notable because Modern Wealth was also one of the quarter's most active buyers, closing three deals. Platforms often accelerate acquisitions ahead of a recapitalization.
5. Parallel Advisors - $11B AUM
Majority-owned by Golden Gate Capital, and has retained William Blair to run a sale process. The most formally advanced of the five, which makes it the most likely to produce an announcement first.
Five processes, one distribution calendar. Dakota Marketplace tracks RIA ownership, PE backers, and the investment-team contacts at every platform on this list. Book a demo.
Also Worth Flagging
Three more situations sit just outside the top five:
- SMArtX Advisory Solutions ($27B TAMP) has retained Broadhaven Capital Partners as it seeks a new equity investor
- LPL Financial was reported to be in talks to acquire $2.8B Burlington, MA-based Axial Financial Group
- Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon signaled the firm remains open to acquisitions within its $3.8T asset and wealth management business, citing gaps in scale
Why the Wave Is Hitting Now
Two forces are converging.
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The first is the private equity clock. Sponsors that bought into wealth platforms between 2020 and 2022 are now at the three-to-five-year mark where they typically transact. That is not a market call, it is a fund lifecycle, which makes the timing fairly predictable.
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The second is the advisor retirement wall. Goldman Sachs estimates roughly a third of advisors will retire within the next decade, and few next-generation teams can buy out founders on their own. Sponsor capital is the default exit, which keeps the supply of sellers high well past this cycle.
Together they point to sustained, and potentially larger, deal flow heading into Q3 and beyond. The platforms one tier below this list are the next cohort to face the same math.
What to Do Before the Announcement
- Audit your shelf space at all five now. If you have an existing relationship at any of these platforms, expect the manager lineup to come under renewed scrutiny once a transaction is announced. Know where you stand before someone else reviews it.
- Flag each process on your distribution calendar today. Not when the deal closes. The point of tracking a rumored process is to be ready on day one, and calling on a platform's home office takes preparation you cannot compress into a week.
- Read the structure, not just the news. A controlling-stake sale like Hightower's resets manager relationships. A sponsor swap like The Mather Group's or a recapitalization like Modern Wealth's is far more likely to leave the current lineup intact. Those are different plays.
These Platforms in Dakota Marketplace
A rumor tells you something is coming. It does not tell you who to call when it lands.
Four of the five platforms above already carry full Dakota Marketplace profiles: Hightower Advisors in New York City, The Mather Group in Chicago, Modern Wealth Management in Kansas City, and Parallel Advisors in San Francisco, with Hightower and Modern Wealth both flagged as aggregators. SMArtX Advisory Solutions is profiled on the broker-dealer side in West Palm Beach.
Across those platforms, Dakota tracks 100+ contacts, 101 of them employed directly at the firms rather than tied in through consultant or network relationships. That is the list you want in hand the morning a deal is announced, not the week you start building it.
Want to track these processes as they develop, with the sponsors, the structures, and the contacts behind each one? Book a demo to see how Dakota Marketplace covers RIA ownership and M&A.
