The wealth management M&A market is on a white-hot streak and is poised to blast through the 200-deal barrier to hit an all-time high by year’s end, according to Echelon Partners RIA M&A Deal Report.
Already deal volume is more than halfway to a new annual high: Echelon documented a record 52 transactions in the second quarter ended June 30, following 49 deals in the first quarter. Last year there was a total of 181 M&A deals.
Fidelity Clearing & Custody Solutions, which has a narrower set of reporting criteria for RIAs, is also reporting a record volume of deals and transacted AUM for the first half of 2019.
And there’s even more to the market frenzy than meets the eye, says Carolyn Armitage, Echelon’s managing director. A “hidden market” of smaller deals, which are not publicly noted, more than doubles the number of M&A transactions recorded by firms like Echelon, Fidelity and DeVoe & Co., says Armitage.
Here’s a breakdown of key industry trends at midyear according to Echelon: