The momentum of a record-breaking year for RIA M&A activity continued in November, as Dakota tracked 26 M&A transactions representing approximately $62B in AUM during the month. Similar to October, the headline deals involved financial sponsors, with Chicago-based private equity firm GTCR’s planned acquisition of $34B Fiduciary Trust Company, a Boston-based private wealth manager and trust company serving UHNW clients and institutions taking top spot.
Another major deal announced during the month was the merger of BW Forsyth Partners-backed Matter Family Office and IWP Family OfficeB. The deal creates a firm with over $10B in assets under advisement across offices in St. Louis, Denver, and Dallas. IWP will become part of Matter in the deal, which was funded by BW Forsyth. And while not included in the month’s tally, as it was announced in September, Madison Dearborn completing its re-acquisition of the $560B AUM wealth management portion of the NFP business it sold to Aon for $13B in April 2024 was another notable November item. The combined businesses will operate under the Wealthspire Advisors name and be led by Michael LaMena.
It wasn’t just the largest transactions that involved financial sponsors, of course, with private equity represented in some form in most of the month’s deals. There’s no reason to expect that to change, according to Jessica Polito, founder and principal of wealth management M&A advisor Turkey Hill Management.
“With the amount of private equity investment in the space, it’s giving wealth management firms that never had the ability to participate in a process before the ability to do so. And because private equity likes a return on their investment, firms will continue to go through M&A as a way of providing that return to the private equity backers,” she said in a recent interview with InvestmentNews TV.
As such, Polito believes it’s possible one record-setting year could lead into yet another. “It’s going to keep going. It’s been so strong, and we’re going to see a very strong finish to 2025. And given the volume that we have at Turkey Hill at the moment, it’s going to continue well into 2026 and probably beyond, too.”
Elsewhere, LPL staked $41.3B New Jersey RIA Private Advisor Group, while Emigrant Partners may be looking to exit its stake in Verdence Capital Advisors and is reportedly seeking additional backers for its investment in F.L.Putnam. On the international front, Bain is reportedly in exclusive talks to acquire $14B Australian wealth manager Perpetual.
Read on for a roundup of all the month’s RIA M&A and sponsor-backed investment news.
Announced M&A
Northeast
- GTCR agreed to acquire Boston-based Fiduciary Trust Company, a private wealth manager and trust company serving ultra-high net worth individuals, families, and institutions with about $34B in total assets.
- Kestra Holdings subsidiary Bluespring Wealth Partners acquired Pittsburgh, PA-based Kestra Financial affiliate Signature Wealth, adding $1.41B in client assets and marking Bluespring’s eighth acquisition of the year.
- $38B RIA Lido Advisors – backed by majority owner HPS Investment Partners, as well as Constellation Wealth Capital and Charlesbank Capital Partners – acquired Warren, NJ-based Fountainhead Advisors, which has over $1.2B in regulatory AUM. Fountainhead also operates an office in San Ramon, CA.
- $11.2B, Salt Lake City-based wealth management platform Diversify acquired Harding Financial and Insurance, a Boston-based advisor team overseeing $650M in client assets.
- Wealth Partners Group and HGGC-backed Waverly Advisors acquired $447M Cape Cod, MA-based Bridge Creek Capital Management, bringing the Birmingham, AL-based firm’s AUM to around $26B.
- Palm Beach Gardens, FL-based and Emigrant Partners-backed Dakota Wealth Management reportedly acquired Lewis, DE-based RIA Lokken Investment Group, roughly a year after the death of its founder Jonathan Lokken. The deal adds $455M in client assets. Lokken engaged Turkey Hill Management to assist in its sale process.
- Cleveland-based MAI Capital Management acquired Ellicott City, MD-based RIA Court Place Advisors, which has $366M in AUM. Court Place founder Jack Santry will join MAI as a senior wealth advisor and managing director.
- Madison Dearborn’s Wealthspire agreed to acquire Red Bank, NJ-based RIA RoundAngle Advisors, which had $177M in regulatory AUM as of its August 4 form ADV filing. The firm was founded by Jonathan Bernstein, who will join Wealthspire along with COO Nela Diaz and advisor Deirdre DeRosa.
- Santa Barbara, CA-based World Investment Advisors – which is backed by its parent company, World Insurance Associates, which is in turn supported by private equity investments from Charlesbank Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Asset Management – acquired Nashua, NH-based TCG Wealth Management. The $140M firm will join World Investment’s Boston Harbor Wealth Advisors branch.
Southeast
- Mike Hines, who founded Raymond James-affiliated CPC Advisors about 50 years ago, reportedly sold his majority stake in the firm to CEO Varun Marneni and chief market strategist Blake Flood. The Atlanta-based firm has around $2.1B in regulatory assets under management.
- KKR-backed Beacon Point Advisors acquired Falls Church, VA, and Chicago-based Hemington Wealth Management. The 16-person team is led by Eileen O’Connor and Jen Dawson and manages $1.2B in assets, serving high-net-worth individuals and families, with a dedicated focus on female clients.
- Cambridge Investment Research acquired Rome, GA-based RIA Dempsey Lord Smith, which reported $580M in regulatory AUM in its most recent Form ADV. Founder and CEO Jerry Dempsey, along with around 75 other professionals, will join Cambridge in the deal.
- OneDigital Investment Advisors acquired Atlanta-based Signature Wealth Management Group, which had $402M in regulatory AUM as of its most recent form ADV, filed in March. OneDigital has over $149B in assets under advisement and recently received a majority investment from Stone Point Capital and CPP Investments.
- Charlotte-based Strathmore Capital Advisors reportedly acquired $125M Summit Financial Partners, based in Richmond, VA, bringing its AUM to around $753M. Summit was founded and is led by Jennifer Luzzatto.
Midwest
- Matter Family Office and IWP Family Office merged, creating a firm with over $10B in assets under advisement across offices in St. Louis, Denver, and Dallas. IWP will become part of Matter in the deal. BW Forsyth Partners – which acquired a stake in Matter in October 2024 – funded the deal and will continue to be a minority owner. Katherine Lintz, founder and managing member of Matter, will serve as managing partner, and Charlie Willhoit, founder and president of IWP, will serve as CEO and managing partner.
- Carson Group acquired Cincinnati-based Total Wealth Planning, adding $1.45B in AUM. Total Wealth – which will rebrand as Carson Wealth – is led by managing partners and wealth advisors Robert Lemmons, Robert Siegmann, and David Wilder.
- Constellation Wealth Capital-backed Merit Financial Advisors acquired Blueprint Wealth Advisors, which was previously affiliated with Commonwealth Financial and has offices in Chicago, Rockford, IL, and Fitchburg, WI. The deal adds $1.2B in total assets and marks Merit’s entry into the Chicago market. Ryan Evans and Nick Wilkins, managing partners and wealth advisors at Blueprint, will join Merit as regional directors and partners.
- Constellation Wealth Capital-backed Merit Financial reportedly acquired Madison, WI-based Mennenga Tax & Financial, which offers wealth management and tax planning services and manages $715M in assets. Founder Marshall Mennegna will join Atlanta-based Merit as a wealth manager and partner.
- TA Associates and Onex Corporation-backed Wealth Enhancement acquired $464M RIA Wise Wealth, which has locations in Lee's Summit, Rolla, and Liberty, MO. The team includes six advisors and is led by Stephen Stricklin.
- Brookfield, WI-based Annex Wealth Management, which oversaw $6.9B in regulatory AUM as of its most recent ADV, is reportedly acquiring $439M RIA WFA Asset Management. The Whitefish Bay, WI-based firm is led by Nicholas Enea.
- Onex Partners and TA Associates-backed Wealth Enhancement acquired Elkhart, IN-based Guidance Wealth, an independent RIA with $165M in client assets. The firm is led by managing partner John McSorley, partner and financial advisor Michael Griggs, and director of operations and chief compliance officer Maureen Teunissen.
Southwest
- Irving, TX-based and Creative Planning-backed United Capital Financial Advisors acquired Dallas-headquartered Apexium Financial, which has offices in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southwest regions. The deal adds over $4B in AUM, and Apexium managing partners Robert Brown, Cory Chmelka, and Matthew Marcello will join in the deal.
West
- Birmingham, AL-based Waverly Advisors, an RIA supported by Wealth Partners Capital Group (WPCG) and HGGC Aspire Holdings, expanded its national footprint by acquiring Seattle-based Pacific Portfolio Consulting (PPC) and Pacific Portfolio Trust Company (PPTC). The acquisition, which adds approximately $5B in AUM to Waverly's platform, totaling around $25B, also introduces new and enhanced trust services to Waverly's offerings.
- Chicago-based The Mather Group, which is backed by The Vistria Group, acquired Napa Wealth Management, a Napa Valley, CA-based RIA with just under $300M in AUM. Napa Wealth’s six-person team, including president and founder George McCuen, joined $14B+ Mather Group in the deal.
- $3.3B RIA Santa Monica, CA-based Abacus Wealth Partners acquired San Francisco-based RIA Milestone Financial Advisors. Milestone was founded by advisor Aaron Winer - who joins Abacus as a partner and financial advisor – and reported $70M in regulatory AUM in its most recent form ADV.
Rumored M&A
Raleigh, NC-based mega RIA Captrust is reportedly in talks to acquire Costa Mesa, CA-based RIA Alpha Cubed Investments, which oversees $3.0B in regulatory AUM and is owned by its CEO Todd Walsh. Alpha Cubed is said to have engaged Gorman Jones as its investment banker.
Hunt Valley, MD-based wealth manager Verdence Capital Advisors is reportedly looking for a minority or majority investor as Emigrant Partners plans to exit its minority stake. The firm – which reported $3.9B in regulatory AUM in its most recent form ADV – is said to have engaged investment bank Fenchurch Advisors.
Sponsor-backed Investments
Constellation Wealth Capital reportedly agreed to take a minority stake in Fayetteville, AR-based RIA Greenwood Gearhart, which reported $1.6B in regulatory assets under management in its most recent Form ADV.
Emigrant Partners-backed F.L.Putnam Investment Management Company is reportedly seeking a new minority investor. The Lynnfield, MA-based firm, which manages around $13.5B in assets, is said to have engaged Ardea Partners as its investment banker.
LPL Financial acquired a minority stake in Morristown, NJ-based Private Advisor Group, an RIA with over $41.3B in AUM. LPL joins Merchant Investment Management as a minority investor in the firm.
Notable International News
Australia-based Perpetual is reportedly in exclusive talks with Bain Capital to sell its wealth management and corporate trust units. The wealth business had AUD 21.5B ($14.0B) in funds under advice as of its most recent annual report.
Singaporean financial services group PhillipCapital reportedly made a £6m ($7.9M) bid for publicly traded, UK-based wealth manager Walker Crips. PhillipCapital already owns a 29% stake in the firm, which manages around £2.75B ($3.6B) of client assets. The deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026, is subject to shareholder approval and a court meeting.
