One detail of the report is a divergence between deal volume and deal value in financial services M&A over the past year. Acquirers favor smaller, capability-driven transactions – often in wealth management and advisory businesses – over large-scale consolidation plays.

Global financial services M&A activity edged higher in the first half of 2026, but the headline numbers mask a sharper story: wealth and asset management dealmaking is outperforming the broader market, according to the latest financial services M&A analysis from EY.

Banks, insurers and asset managers worldwide disclosed 1,137 deals in H1 2026, a 3 per cent year-on-year rise from 1,101 in H1 2025. Total disclosed deal value fell, however, from $191.3 billion to $134.5 billion, as megadeals above $1 billion dropped to 25 from 37 a year earlier.

The wealth and asset management sector bucked that trend most visibly in Europe. European wealth and asset management deals rose from 108 to 134 year-on-year, while disclosed deal value jumped from $2.6 billion to $31.1 billion – a surge EY attributed largely to a single $13.4 billion transaction. European banking and capital markets deals fell over the same period, from 96 to 88, with value collapsing from $50.7 billion to $19.3 billion.

North America told a similar story of resilient wealth management activity amid softer headline value. Wealth and asset management deals in the US and Canada climbed from 177 to 213, even as disclosed value slipped from $8.3 billion to $6.0 billion. Regional banking and capital markets deals rose in volume terms, from 123 to 146, but value there fell sharply, from $62.6 billion to $30.1 billion, reflecting the broader retreat from large-cap transactions.

That US momentum is echoed at the ground level of the advisory market. Separate research from ECHELON Partners found that registered investment advisor M&A hit a record 142 transactions in the first quarter of 2026, with total transacted assets under management of $1.67 trillion – more than double the $805 billion recorded a year earlier. Average AuM per deal reached $1.8 billion, the highest since 2021, with ECHELON projecting roughly 475 RIA transactions for the full year, ahead of 2025's record of 466.

In Asia and Oceania, the picture was more mixed. Wealth and asset management deal count slipped from 42 to 39, with value down from $6.5 billion to $2.4 billion. Overall regional M&A activity also declined, with disclosed deals falling 14 per cent to 147 from 170, and total value easing from $17.8 billion to $15.8 billion.

Cross-border dealmaking showed notable momentum. Non-European firms acquiring European targets rose to 67 deals worth $24.3 billion, up from $15.2 billion the previous year, while European firms acquiring overseas targets held flat at 31 deals but saw value increase to $16.3 billion from just $0.5 billion. In North America, inbound acquisitions from non-US and Canadian firms rose to 30 deals worth $15.9 billion.

Omar Ali, EY Global Financial Services leader, said that firms have adapted to operating with heightened uncertainty as standard practice, with slower global economic growth, rising inflation and ongoing supply shocks having weighed on deal value even as transaction counts increased. 

Andre Veissid, EY-Parthenon Global Financial Services industry leader, argued that the sector's underlying resilience is understated by the headline figures. He pointed to robust mid-market and small-cap dealmaking, supported by sustained private equity activity; he said the decline in total deal value is concentrated at the top end of the market where fewer megadeals materialized, obscuring solid underlying momentum.

The divergence between deal volume and deal value has become a defining feature of financial services M&A over the past year, as acquirers favor smaller, capability-driven transactions – often in wealth management and advisory businesses – over large-scale consolidation plays.

Rising interest rates, tighter regulatory scrutiny of large-cap bank mergers and private equity's growing appetite for asset and wealth management platforms have all contributed to this shift, particularly as firms seek to expand fee-based revenue streams and AuM in a slower-growth environment.

Veissid noted that deal rationale has shifted from cost-cutting toward growth, and while geopolitical tensions persist, the market has shown that it can absorb the uncertainty. He said the current regulatory backdrop in the US, which he described as increasingly pro-growth, is presenting a window of opportunity that is likely temporary, and that firms considering M&A for strategic transformation would be well placed to act in the near term.