Registered investment advisory (RIA) firms surpassed its record of acquisitions for the first quarter of 2025, according to a Q1 analysis from DeVoe & Company.
The investment bank and consulting firm’s RIA M&A Deal Book reported a total of 75 transactions in the first quarter of the year, exceeding its previous Q1 record of 68 deals in 2022 and marking it as the strongest and most active quarter in the industry.
The milestone follows a record 2024 with 272 transactions, the highest ever recorded. The fourth quarter alone saw 78 merger and acquisition deals, reported the firm.
“RIA M&A is red hot right now,” said David DeVoe, founder and CEO of DeVoe & Company. “Recent research shows that growth is the #1 driver for sellers, which seems counterintuitive. However, more firms are giving up on organic growth and are turning to those that have seemingly solved the organic growth puzzle.”
According to the firm’s RIA M&A Outlook, RIAs listed growth opportunities as their top reason for selling externally, followed by liquidity and succession planning. These advisors say they’re motivated to join larger firms due to scale, advanced technology, and operational support.
As reported by DeVoe & Company, private equity and private equity-backed acquirers led M&As at 72% of all transactions, as interest rates fell and capital become more accessible.
DeVoe & Company’s RIA M&A Deal Book has tracked and analyzed merger and acquisition trends for over 20 years. It focuses solely on transactions of $100 million or more in assets under management (AUM), in an effort to “optimize the statistical accuracy of our reporting and seek to screen out the SEC-registered hedge funds, independent broker-dealers, mutual fund companies and other companies that aren’t operating as traditional RIA firms.”
The firm says it also excludes the “advisors joining RIAs” category unless there are “important developments.”
More information on the report can be found here.
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Amanda Umpierrez is the Managing Editor of 401(k) Specialist magazine. She is a financial services reporter with nearly a decade of experience and a passion for telling stories and reporting news. She is originally from Queens, New York, but now resides in Denver, Colorado.