Registered investment advisor deal activity fell 17% in the third quarter of 2026, ending a seven-quarter run of record-setting volume, according to the Q3 2026 RIA M&A Deal Book from San Francisco-based investment bank and consultancy DeVoe & Company.
The industry announced 77 transactions between July and September, compared with 93 in the same quarter of 2025. Even so, the year-to-date tally of 244 deals is running slightly ahead of last year’s record pace.
The report argues the dip says more about which firms are selling than about any retreat from dealmaking.
DeVoe ties the slowdown to decisions made many months earlier. A banker-led sale typically takes about six months from decision to announcement, while do-it-yourself deals often take 12 to 18 months, making announced transactions a lagging read on owner sentiment.
Within that window, the Cboe Volatility Index spiked three times: after tariff announcements in April 2025, on worries about AI valuations in November 2025 and when the U.S.-Iran conflict broke out in March this year.
“The volatility and distraction created by tariffs, the war with Iran, gasoline price surges and other economic shocks caused some advisors to pause before moving forward with a sale," said David DeVoe, founder and CEO of DeVoe & Company. "That hesitation is now emerging in our transaction data.”
The firm says the same lag points to a rebound, and it expects to close more than 15 client transactions over the next six months. Third-quarter volume also edged up from 74 deals in the second quarter, a softer decline than preliminary DeVoe data released in late September had suggested.
The pullback was concentrated among smaller, founder-led firms. Sellers with $100 million to $500 million in assets completed 87 deals through September. Their 36% share puts the segment on track for its lowest full-year share on record, even as firms above $500 million now make up 64% of transactions.
Mega sellers with more than $5 billion in assets completed 41 deals, already more than in any prior full year, and now represent a record 17% of the market. Average seller assets, which exclude mega deals, reached $1.02 billion, while the median seller managed $625 million.
Consolidators, serial acquirers built around M&A, announced 129 deals, or 53% of the market, up from 45% in 2024 and 49% in 2025. RIAs acting as buyers took 29%. Other buyers, including private equity firms, broker-dealers and banks, fell to 18%, their smallest share since 2014.
Wealth Enhancement leads the acquirer table with 16 transactions, followed by Hightower Signature Wealth with 15. Twelve of Hightower’s deals involved firms already in its network, as the company moved existing partner firms into its integrated W-2 channel. Savant Wealth Management has announced 10 deals, and Beacon Pointe Advisors and Corient eight each.
Independent broker-dealers are also widening the field. LPL has acquired more than 75 practices since launching its Liquidity & Succession program in 2021, the report says. In April, Cetera formed Cetera Planning Partners, an employee-advisor RIA that launched with roughly $19 billion in assets under advisement.
The Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate increase in September came after nearly all third-quarter deals were in motion, DeVoe says. Still, sustained higher borrowing costs could test acquirers that rely heavily on debt.
To match 2025’s record 322 transactions, the industry needs to log 78 deals in the fourth quarter. That's well within reach, if recent history is any guide, as fourth quarter produced 81 deals in each of the past two years.
“The slowdown is real, but the forces driving RIA M&A have not gone away,” said Gordon Ross, president of DeVoe & Company. “Owners still need succession solutions, firms still need scale, and well-capitalized buyers are still pursuing acquisitions."
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