M&A for registered investment advisers slowing

Current stock market conditions are beginning to exert “downward pressure” on the number of mergers and acquisitions for registered investment advisers, according to David DeVoe, senior director of mergers and acquisitions for Schwab Institutional in San Francisco. “We’ve seen a slowdown [in the number of transactions] occurring already,” Mr. De Voe said while making a presentation to advisers this morning in New York at the Harvard Club. Firms with less than $500 million in assets under management have been most affected, he added. Fewer M&A deals will be done this year than the 80 that were completed in 2007, Mr. DeVoe estimated. In addition, national banks are curtailing plans to buy RIA firms to focus on their subprime mortgage exposure, Mr. DeVoe said.