Among the details of the quarterly report, ECHELON Partners noted that private equity-sponsored deals are on track to set a new record for 2025.

Strategic buyers dominate as average deal sizes rise and overseas activity increases, the boutique investment bank and M&A advisory firm, based in California, said.

The second quarter of 2025 marked the most active second quarter on record for mergers and acquisitions among registered investment advisors (RIAs), according to the latest quarterly deal report from ECHELON Partners, the boutique investment bank and advisory house.

Despite volatility in financial markets, deal activity was resilient, continuing a robust trend that began earlier in the year, it said.

Historically, the second three-month period of a year has seen RIA dealmaking hit the snooze button. However, with 102 transactions completed, the second quarter of 2025 has defied this seasonal pattern and now stands as the third most active quarter overall in the industry’s history. 

ECHELON reckons that the total number of RIA transactions for the full year could reach 380, versus the previous annual record of 341 deals set in 2022.

Along with other investment banks and consultancies, such as DeVoe & Co, the ECHELON figures highlight how M&A activity is driven by issues such as rising compliance costs, a desire for economies of scale and technological resources to tap wealth transfer and expansion. This week, our US correspondent has reported (here and here) on how upcoming US anti-money laundering compliance requirements must be prepared for – these will surely add to firms’ need to have resources to handle compliance.

Strategic buyers
Strategic acquirers, such as large RIA platforms and consolidators, remained the dominant force in the market. These firms accounted for 87.3 per cent of total deal volume in the second quarter. 

Many of the most active buyers in this category have already surpassed their total deal counts for 2024 or are on track to do so, underscoring the intensity of this year’s deal flow.

Merit Financial Advisors was the most active buyer so far in 2025, announcing 11 transactions. Among firms completing five or more deals year-to-date, Mariner leads in terms of assets under management acquired, totaling $295.5 billion. This figure is driven primarily by its headline-grabbing $292 billion acquisition of Cardinal Investment Advisors.

Private equity activity shifts in shape, not scope
While private equity deal volume dipped slightly in Q2 compared with Q1, the average deal size surged from $36.1 billion to $59.3 billion – suggesting a shift in strategy toward fewer but larger transactions. There were 22 direct private equity investments in the first half of 2025, matching the pace of 2024.

Private equity-sponsored deals reached 144 transactions year-to-date, putting 2025 on track to exceed last year’s all-time high of 215 transactions. Despite the short-term decline in volume, the longer-term trajectory remains upward. 

Several large US-based private equity firms, including TA Associates, also expanded their global footprint by announcing wealth management transactions abroad, ECHELON said.

(Editor's note: Debate continues over whether private equity-backed deals are optimal for RIAs that say they are focused on clients' long-term need. Much depends on the structure that deals have; if a sole PE firm takes a majority stake in an advisory firm, it will have a different impact on how the firm is run than if multiple PE firms take different stakes. The topic shows why there is debate on what is meant by "independence" in terms of advice to high net worth clients. We discussed this topic with industry figures back in 2018.)