Modern Wealth Management has grown to $10 billion AUM as it becomes the second RIA aggregator in the past month to acquire a firm that specializes in advising firefighters and police officers.
Aspen Wealth's New England Private Wealth Advisors has also snapped up a $1.6 billion firm in New Hampshire.
Demographic shifts in RIAs and clients indicate a shift in tech-forward thinking, but with varied degrees of focus, according to Betterment's 2025 Advisor Survey.
New recruits join from JPMorgan, Commonwealth, Edelman
The deal is expected to be worth $2.7 billion when it closes, likely in Q4 2025
For eligible entrepreneurs, new provisions for qualified small business stock widen the potential for capital gains tax exclusions.
"The future will really belong to firms that treat talent as infrastructure and invest with urgency, otherwise more firms will drift into mediocrity," founder and CEO David DeVoe told InvestmentNews.
Meanwhile, an experienced Connecticut advisor has cut ties with Edelman Financial Engines, and Raymond James' independent division welcomes a Washington-based duo.
The RIA platform with a focus on minority staking partnerships has selected Goldman as a primary provider for lending, direct indexing, custom models, and fixed-income SMAs.
Oregon-based Eagle Wealth Management and Idaho-based West Oak Capital give Mercer 11 acquisitions in 2025, matching last year's total.
Osaic-owned CW Advisors has added more than $500 million to reach $14.5 billion in AUM, while Apella's latest deal brings more than $1 billion in new client assets.
The up-and-coming Los Angeles-based RIA is looking to tap Merchant's resources to strengthen its alts distribution, advisor recruitment, and family office services.
The $325 billion RIA giant is building its first centralized investment management platform, with an industry veteran taking on a newly created role.
US wealth advisory business will get international footprint boost with new tie-ups.
"We've seen two so far, and it feels like something that the industry has been talking about for years," Turkey Hill Management's Jessica Polito says following the recent Cresset-Monticello and MAI-Evoke Advisors mergers, which could be a sign of future consolidation among large RIAs.
JPMorgan and RBC have also welcomed ex-UBS advisors in Texas, while Steward Partners and SpirePoint make new additions in the Sun Belt.
Elsewhere, two breakaway teams from Morgan Stanley and Merrill unite to form a $2 billion RIA, while a Texas-based independent merges with a Bay Area advisory practice.
"A lot of advisors think, I don't want to sell to private equity or join a firm that's PE backed, because those evil private equity people like Edward Lewis are just going to strip my firm, fire my people, reduce all the costs," says Modern Wealth's Jason Gordo. "That's just not the way it works in the RIA community."
Meanwhile, Fifth Third's RIA arm adds a former billion-dollar BNY trio in Boulder, Colorado, while a hybrid RIA opens a new North Carolina location with a former Raymond James-affiliated team.
"It's about connecting with the client and supporting the client and their needs specifically and giving them financial confidence to be able to live out their goals," said Marianne Caswell, president of Park Avenue Securities at Guardian Life.
