Waverly Advisors buys $1.7B Richmond RIA

Waverly Advisors has expanded its presence in Virginia with the acquisition of Heartwood Wealth Advisors, a Richmond-based wealth manager overseeing approximately $1.7 billion in assets.

The deal announced Tuesday morning adds scale for the Birmingham, Alabama-based firm in the Mid-Atlantic just as the wider market for RIA acquisitions loses some of its momentum.

Founded in 2013, Heartwood is led by Steve Clarke, Sid Martin, Ben Gurley and Wes Kaufman, with a supporting team of nine professionals.

The move marks Waverly's 36th transaction since Wealth Partners Capital Group and HGGC's Aspire Holdings platform took an equity stake in December 2021.

"Heartwood and Waverly are grounded in many of the same principles," said Justin Russell, president and CEO of Waverly. "Those values are reflected in the enduring client relationships and collaborative cultures that define both organizations."

"Heartwood has always been focused on understanding the full picture of our clients' financial lives and providing thoughtful, highly personal advice," said Martin, whose nearly three-decade record in the industry includes stops at Wells Fargo and Merrill, according to his IAPD record.

Martin said the deal "[brings] additional resources and expertise to the families and business owners we serve," while "clients will continue working with the people they know and trust."

Read more: Waverly extends Pacific Northwest push with McBride Financial Advisors

Waverly's deal calendar has been relatively steady, with the firm reporting seven transactions closed since late January. Its 2026 dealmaking season began with Pure Portfolios, a Lake Oswego, Oregon-based firm with roughly $437 million in assets.

This past summer, Waverly acquired Pittsburgh's Smithfield Trust, a roughly $3 billion trust company, marking the firm's first purchase of a state-chartered trust company. 

Deal tracking by Echelon Partners counted three Waverly acquisitions totaling roughly $6.35 billion in assets in the second quarter, including two involving sellers with $1 billion or more. That tied Waverly with Hightower Advisors and Emigrant Partners in the billion dollar-plus leaderboard of buyers in Q2, though all three were behind Corient with four deals and Modern Wealth Management and Wealthspire Advisors with three each.

Waverly reported approximately $35.6 billion in assets across 53 offices as of July 27.

Echelon has counted 93 deals involving sellers with $1 billion or more during the first half of 2026, including 53 in the first quarter. Through the first half, those deals represented 35.5% of all announced transactions, and the consultancy firm expects about 188 billion dollar-plus transactions for the full year, which would edge out 2025's record of 185.

But a more recent read by Devoe & Company suggests the overall pace of RIA dealmaking is slipping, with 72 RIA transactions announced in the third quarter through Sept. 22. That was down 19% from 89 in the same stretch of 2025.

Read more: Serial acquirers 'moving up market' amid RIA M&A slowdown

David DeVoe, the firm's eponymous founder and CEO, said 2026 is likely to finish below 2025, given the lag time between a seller's decision to make their move and the public announcement of a deal.

"The transactions announced on a given day are the result of a decision to sell, which came 6 to 18 months ago," DeVoe said. "The volatility and distraction created by tariffs, the war with Iran, gasoline price surges and other economic shocks over the last 18 months caused some advisors to pause before moving forward with a sale."

According to Devoe, advisors' attention tends to get diverted to clients during periods of volatility, which means major strategic decisions get deprioritized. But despite a slowdown in September, he expects a comeback in deals over the next few months and quarters.

"We believe that our pipeline of over 15 transactions forecasted to close during the next six months indicates that the M&A market could bounce back in the near term," DeVoe said.