How pe-backed buyers are reshaping wealth management's future

Private equity is reshaping wealth management M&A. Instead of cashing out, firms are tapping outside capital to accelerate growth, transfer risk, and take their business to the next level.

The shift marks a break from the past, when most sellers were nearing retirement or seeking one-time liquidity events. Today, advisory firms are entering deals with a different mindset—one centered on strategic reinvention, not succession. John Orsini, director at MarshBerry, says this change is redefining the role of consolidation across the industry.

“There’s been an increasing amount of private equity that’s flowed into the space,” Orsini says. “And with it, a different kind of deal-making.”

MarshBerry saw the shift begin in insurance, where recurring revenue and relationship-driven business models attracted long-term capital. Wealth firms followed, drawn by the same fundamentals, with new ambitions.

“A large majority of those private equity investments actually reside on the insurance side,” Orsini says. “So, there’s been a natural migration.”

What’s changed isn’t just the money—it’s the motive. Orsini says sellers aren’t stepping away. They’re de-risking, rolling equity forward, and betting on the next phase.

“Previously it was about finding a liquidity event. Now it’s about growth,” he says. “It’s about reducing risk, taking some chips off the table, but still being part of something bigger.”

AI pressure and private equity precision

This approach comes at a time when technology is raising the bar for operational efficiency. Orsini says smaller firms are starting to feel exposed as artificial intelligence changes the landscape.

“With the way AI is moving into the space, there's some risk here for some of the smaller firms,” he says.

In contrast, private equity-backed buyers are arriving with structure. They’ve streamlined integration, clarified their investment goals, and built internal teams that support scaling.

“They have really well-formed teams. They've worked out the kinks. They have clear investment thesis and the teams to help with onboarding, integration, and relationship management,” Orsini says.

MarshBerry’s role is to help sellers look beyond the headline number and assess what the future of the business will look like under new ownership. He emphasizes that many firms underestimate how much structure, autonomy, and cultural alignment shape long-term outcomes.

“Our philosophy here we work at MarshBerry with clients is we lead with the end in mind,” he says. “Everyone always talks about multiples and prices. But then the question becomes, what are you looking at from an optimal reporting structure, around autonomy, from your name, around the culture?”

That level of clarity narrows the field. Orsini says MarshBerry prefers to match firms with a small group of highly aligned buyers.

“You can work with a smaller subset, you know, six to eight acquirers who are saying, hey, they're checking these boxes in a pretty meaningful way,” he explains. “The cash at closing, the equity, that stuff takes care of itself once that wire hits your account. You're then left with the rest of your career.”

The growth premium

Across the market, firms that prove they can grow, consistently and at scale, are commanding premium valuations. That’s what buyers want, Orsini says, and that’s what they’re structuring deals around.

“Growth is the holy grail,” he says. “Acquirers are certainly making investments, but at the end of the day, what they're looking for are growth-minded advisors.”

Firms are no longer measured only by AUM. The real value lies in their ability to drive organic growth and replicate it. Buyers are responding with more flexible, incentive-driven structures.

“Where in the past, you would say, ‘Hey, if I can get from $750 million to a billion, I can increase my overall value.’ The reality is, is that having that growth mechanism, you see acquirers being structural,” Orsini says.

The best deals, in his view, give advisors room to keep doing what they do best.

“Make them free to do what it is they do best, which is go out and build great businesses, bring in clients,” he says.

New capital is now flowing in from sovereign wealth funds; a development Orsini believes could accelerate large-scale consolidation. With patient timelines and deeper capital reserves, these investors may surpass private equity in long-term influence.

“There are 50 plus strategic acquirers. I don’t think there will be 50 plus strategic acquirers five, seven, 10 years from now,” he says. “They have the capital probably even more so than private equity, and they have a longer time horizon, generally speaking.”

That extended outlook, he adds, sets the stage for a more sustained wave of platform building. “It provides economies of scale for these things to come together for that next level of consolidation,” Orsini explains.

He sees the current disruption as a test—and an opportunity. “I love when there's a little bit of disruption. It shows you where your cracks are,” Orsini says. “The best firms are responding. They’re seeing it as an opportunity for them to gain scale, to grow their business, to attract new clients.”