Turnkey asset management platform Sawtooth Solutions is eyeing an influx of new capital to increase resources, as competitors, like Orion and Brinker Capital, have consolidated in recent weeks.
The $12.5 billion firm brought on Echelon Partners as its investment banker, as the TAMP looks to land the dedicated capital it feels is necessary to increase scale and stay competitive.
“We are helping them explore strategic growth options — in any form that may be,” said Michael Wunderli, managing director at Echelon Partners.
Sawtooth is looking at handful of options to ramp up capital, as was first reported by Citywire. However, the firm is likely to avoid a full buyout, in favor of a minority investment, according to a source familiar with the matter. Those potential partnerships include deals with other TAMPs or with a private equity firm, the source said.
The market has been flooded with consolidations as smaller TAMPs look to partner with larger institutions. In late June, Orion Advisor Solutions, for one, merged with competing turnkey asset management platform Brinker Capital to create an investment management firm and technology provider with approximately $40 billion in managed assets.
Mergers open up potential opportunities for the combined companies to attain the scale necessary to join the ranks of TAMP powerhouses like Envestnet, SEI and AssetMark in terms of assets, according to Alois Pirker, research director for Aite Group's Wealth Management practice.
Consolidation in the TAMP market is likely to continue, Pirker said. “The TAMPs left that are not in the top three are likely asking themselves the same thing as Sawtooth: ‘Who can we partner with or align with from an M&A perspective in order to scale,” he said.
Sawtooth already has an integration with Orion Advisor Solutions.
“We are going to see a lot more TAMP deals come through as advisers look to have their entire tech stack under one umbrella,” Pirker said.
"Shares of alternative assets managers have lagged this year as investors grow wary of private-credit exposure."
The fintech platform is touting a new AI-free Planning Observations feature, which draws on IRS tax records to uncover opportunities for advisors.
The Omaha, Nebraska-based RIA's latest acquisition expands its Rocky Mountain footprint after two prior Colorado deals last year.
Operational drag between an advisor signing and accounts going live is emerging as a competitive liability for wealth management firms.
Bain says companies face a "winner's paradox" as AI transformation collides with complex integrations.
Dan Biagini of American Equity says the steady decline of pensions, longer lifespans and a reset in interest rates are rewriting how advisors build retirement income
Direct indexing is on pace to outgrow ETFs and mutual funds. Northern Trust's Ken Lassner explains why the advisors who get it wish they had started sooner.
