# Private equity's wealth management buying spree: who owns what, and why URL: https://www.financialadvsr.com/guides/private-equity-in-wealth-management Updated: 2026-10-10 Publisher: Financial ADVSR (https://www.financialadvsr.com) Private equity firms buy wealth management businesses because advisory firms earn steady, recurring fees, the market is split among thousands of small firms, and many founders need a succession plan, which lets a well-funded buyer grow quickly through acquisitions. Sponsors now drive most deal activity: Echelon Partners found financial sponsors involved in 75.8% of a record 466 wealth management deals announced in 2025, and private equity firms control many of the largest RIA platforms and independent broker-dealers, including Focus Financial Partners, Osaic, Cetera and Kestra. Because funds have finite lives, owners regularly sell to other sponsors, recapitalize or move holdings into continuation vehicles, as Osaic and Savant did in 2026. Key points: - Echelon Partners counted 466 announced wealth management transactions in 2025, a record, with financial sponsors involved in 75.8%, and a record 262 in the first half of 2026. - Private equity was behind 86% of RIA transactions and 91% of acquired assets in the first half of 2025, according to Fidelity data reported by The Daily Upside. - AdvizorPro counted 295 private equity-backed RIAs in July 2025, up from 255 a year earlier, managing $5.97 trillion. - Cerulli Associates reported in 2023 that RIAs earn about 81% of their revenue from asset-based fees, the recurring income that makes them attractive to financial buyers. - Large independent broker-dealers are sponsor-owned: Genstar Capital has held a majority of Cetera since 2018, Reverence Capital bought a 75% stake in the predecessor of Osaic in 2019, and Stone Point Capital reacquired Kestra in February 2025. - Reverence closed a recapitalization of Osaic of more than $2 billion anchored by a continuation vehicle on April 30, 2026; Hamilton Lane led a roughly $270 million continuation vehicle for Savant Wealth Management on July 30, 2026. - Reuters reported in June 2026 that the SEC's enforcement division was investigating private equity continuation vehicles. ## How much of wealth management does private equity own? A growing share, and an even larger share of the deal flow. Echelon Partners counted a record 466 announced wealth management transactions in 2025, up 27.3% from 2024, and found financial sponsors involved in 353 of them, or 75.8%, counting both direct investments and deals by sponsor-backed platforms. Fidelity's data showed private equity behind 86% of RIA transactions and 91% of purchased assets in the first half of 2025, according to The Daily Upside. The pace has continued. Echelon reported 120 deals in the second quarter of 2026, down from a record 142 in the first quarter but up 17.6% from a year earlier, making the first half of 2026, with 262 deals, the busiest on record, according to PlanAdviser. Echelon projected about 500 transactions for the full year. Ownership is concentrated among larger firms. AdvizorPro, which analyzes Form ADV filings, counted 295 private equity-backed RIAs in July 2025, up 16% from 255 a year earlier, with $5.97 trillion in assets under management. It said private equity owned 3.7% of RIAs with at least $100 million in assets, but that those firms held about 23% of industry assets, PlanAdviser reported. ## Why does private equity want to own advisory firms? The revenue is predictable. Cerulli Associates reported in 2023 that RIAs derive about 81% of their revenue from asset-based fees, which recur each quarter as long as clients stay and rise with markets. The market is fragmented. Cerulli described a 'buy to build' strategy, in which a platform acquires many smaller firms and combines them, as particularly effective because few RIAs reach the scale needed to become acquirers themselves. Buyers can pay for growth with acquisitions while spreading compliance, technology and investment costs across a larger base. Supply comes from founders who want out. Cerulli estimated in the same 2023 research, using year-end 2021 data, that about $3.7 trillion in assets was potentially acquirable through advisor retirements, new breakaway advisors and RIAs struggling to grow. And prices have been rising: Advisor Growth Strategies reported a record median valuation of 11.6 times EBITDA for RIA deals in 2025, up from 8.0 times in 2020, according to WealthManagement.com. Rising multiples reward sponsors that bought earlier. ## Which deals defined private equity's push into RIAs? The largest was the take-private of Focus Financial Partners, formerly listed on Nasdaq, by funds affiliated with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, completed Aug. 31, 2023, at $53 per share and an enterprise value of more than $7 billion, with Stone Point Capital remaining a minority shareholder. In August 2025, Mubadala Capital completed its take-private of CI Financial, the Canadian parent of U.S. wealth firm Corient, at an enterprise value of about C$12.1 billion, according to the companies. Other big platforms have changed hands among sponsors or added new ones. Wealth Enhancement Group said in August 2021 that Onex would invest and become an equal partner with existing investor TA Associates. Mercer Advisors brought in Altas Partners alongside Genstar Capital and Oak Hill Capital in 2023, in a deal InvestmentNews reported would raise more than $1 billion. Hightower's lead investor, THL, said in December 2020 that it had closed a secondary transaction under which it would remain Hightower's lead investor through a new vehicle including funds advised by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Neuberger Berman and Coller Capital. Minority deals are common at the very top of the market. TPG took a substantial minority stake in Creative Planning in 2024, joining General Atlantic, while CEO Peter Mallouk kept a majority. Carlyle made a minority growth investment in CAPTRUST in September 2023 alongside GTCR, and Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions took a minority stake in Mariner in October 2024. Our guide to RIA aggregators covers how these platforms operate. ## Who owns the independent broker-dealers? Several of the largest independent broker-dealers are sponsor-owned. Genstar Capital agreed in July 2018 to buy a majority stake in Cetera Financial Group's holding company, and Cetera, with Genstar's backing, completed its $1.2 billion acquisition of publicly traded Avantax in November 2023, at $26 per share, according to Avantax. Osaic, formerly Advisor Group, has been controlled by Reverence Capital Partners since Reverence bought a 75% stake in 2019 from Lightyear Capital and PSP Investments, according to WealthManagement.com; the firm took the Osaic name in 2023. Kestra Financial has been passed between sponsors twice: Warburg Pincus acquired it from majority owner Stone Point Capital in June 2019, and Stone Point bought it back from Warburg in a recapitalization completed in February 2025, with Oak Hill Capital remaining a minority owner, according to the companies. Not every large consolidator is private equity-owned. LPL Financial, the largest independent broker-dealer, is publicly traded, and it bought Commonwealth Financial Network, which closed Aug. 1, 2025. ## How do buyouts, minority stakes and recapitalizations work? In a control buyout, a sponsor buys a majority of a firm, often funding part of the price with debt borrowed against the firm's earnings. Leverage magnifies returns and risk. In early 2023, InvestmentNews published commentary noting that financing some consolidators had modeled at about 5% had moved to SOFR plus 600 basis points, over 9%, and that leverage at some had risen from about six times earnings to as much as 7.5 to 8 times. A minority investment buys a non-controlling stake, giving founders liquidity or growth capital while they keep control, usually in exchange for a board seat and investor protections. A recapitalization reshuffles ownership: a new investor buys out some or all of an earlier one, new equity may be raised, and managers and employees may sell part of their stakes or roll them into the new structure. Sellers of individual practices to sponsor-backed buyers are often paid partly in equity in the buyer, known as rollover equity, and partly in contingent earnouts. Equity made up an average of 29% of deal value in 2025 among firms surveyed by Advisor Growth Strategies, according to WealthManagement.com. That equity is how advisors and employees share in a later sale, and why each sponsor exit matters to them. ## What is a continuation vehicle, and why are wealth firms using them? Private equity funds typically have fixed lives, so a sponsor eventually has to return cash to its investors. A continuation vehicle is a new fund, set up by the same sponsor and usually backed by secondary-market investors, that buys a company from the sponsor's older fund. Investors in the old fund can cash out or roll over, and the sponsor keeps managing the company. Fund manager-led secondary deals, most of them continuation vehicles, totaled $106 billion in 2025, up from $70 billion in 2024, according to Evercore figures cited in Reuters' reporting, as relayed by InvestmentNews. Wealth management has produced two notable examples in 2026. Reverence Capital Partners said on April 30, 2026, that it had closed a recapitalization of Osaic raising more than $2 billion in new capital, anchored by a continuation vehicle led by Ares Secondaries funds and Lexington Partners, with Bain Capital as a new investor and Reverence keeping majority ownership. On July 30, 2026, Hamilton Lane said it was sole lead investor in a single-asset continuation vehicle with about $270 million in commitments that gave limited partners of Cynosure Partners, Savant Wealth Management's original backer, a chance to cash out a decade after Cynosure invested; Cynosure and Kelso & Co. remained minority investors and Savant employees remained the largest shareholder group. The structure has drawn scrutiny because the sponsor sits on both sides of the sale. Reuters reported on June 24, 2026, that the SEC's enforcement division was examining continuation vehicles for potential conflicts of interest, how assets are valued and whether investor disclosures were adequate. Reuters said it could not determine which funds were under review, and an SEC spokesperson declined to comment. ## What does private equity ownership mean for advisors and clients? For advisors, the main effects are capital and turnover. Sponsor-backed firms can pay sellers more, invest in technology and services, and offer equity to advisors and employees. But owners change on a schedule set by fund lives, so an advisor who sells to or joins a sponsor-backed firm should expect at least one later sale or recapitalization, and should understand how their equity, earnouts and governance rights are treated when that happens. For clients, the advisory relationship and the adviser's fiduciary duty do not change with ownership, but the firm's incentives can. Debt service and return targets can push firms toward growth, pricing or product decisions that clients should watch. An RIA's direct and indirect owners are listed on Schedules A and B of its Form ADV, which anyone can read on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure site. This guide is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. ## Questions **Why is private equity buying RIAs?** RIAs earn recurring, asset-based fees, about 81% of revenue according to 2023 Cerulli research, the market is fragmented, and many founders need succession plans. That combination lets sponsor-backed platforms grow through acquisitions. **How much RIA M&A involves private equity?** Echelon Partners found financial sponsors involved in 75.8% of the 466 wealth management deals announced in 2025, and Fidelity data showed private equity behind 86% of RIA transactions in the first half of 2025. **Which independent broker-dealers are owned by private equity?** Among the largest, Cetera is majority-owned by Genstar Capital, Osaic by Reverence Capital Partners and Kestra by Stone Point Capital. LPL Financial is publicly traded. **What is a continuation vehicle in wealth management?** It is a new fund, run by the same private equity sponsor, that buys a portfolio company from the sponsor's older fund so that fund's investors can cash out. Osaic and Savant Wealth Management both completed continuation vehicle deals in 2026. **What is a recapitalization of an RIA?** A recapitalization reshuffles a firm's ownership: an incoming investor buys some or all of an existing investor's stake, new equity may be raised, and managers may sell or roll over part of their holdings. **How can a client find out who owns their advisor's firm?** An RIA lists its direct and indirect owners on Schedules A and B of Form ADV, which is available free on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website. **Is the SEC looking at private equity continuation funds?** Reuters reported in June 2026 that the SEC's enforcement division was investigating continuation vehicles over conflicts of interest, valuation and disclosure. The SEC declined to comment on the report. Sources: - Family Wealth Report: 2025 Was Another M&A Record For Wealth Sector: ECHELON Partners (https://www.familywealthreport.com/article.php/2025-Was-Another-M%26A-Record-For-Wealth-Sector-%E2%80%93-ECHELON--Partners?id=206930) - PlanAdviser: RIA M&A posts busiest Q2 yet, per Echelon (https://www.planadviser.com/ria-ma-posts-busiest-q2-yet-per-echelon/) - The Daily Upside: Wealth management M&A hits record high, Fidelity reports (https://www.thedailyupside.com/advisor/practice-management/wealth-management-ma-hits-record-high-fidelity-reports/) - PlanAdviser: PE ownership expands into midsize, small RIAs (https://www.planadviser.com/pe-ownership-expands-into-midsize-small-rias) - Cerulli Associates: Rapid RIA Growth Drives Private Equity Deal Flow (https://www.cerulli.com/press-releases/rapid-ria-growth-drives-private-equity-deal-flow) - WealthManagement.com: RIA Valuations Hit New Record in 2025 (https://www.wealthmanagement.com/ria-news/ria-valuations-hit-new-record-in-2025-at-median-11-6x-ebitda) - Clayton, Dubilier & Rice: Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Completes Acquisition of Focus Financial Partners (https://www.cdr.com/news/clayton-dubilier-rice-completes-acquisition-of-focus-financial-partners) - Business Wire: CI Financial and Mubadala Capital Announce Completion of Take Private Transaction by Mubadala Capital (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250812851536/en/ci-financial-and-mubadala-capital-announce-completion-of-take-private-transaction-by-mubadala-capital/) - Wealth Enhancement Group: Wealth Enhancement Group Welcomes Equity Investment from Onex to Drive Next Stage of Growth (https://www.wealthenhancement.com/newsroom/wealth-enhancement-group-welcomes-equity-investment-from-onex-to-drive-next-stag) - InvestmentNews: Mercer raises $1 billion in recapitalization deal, bringing in new private equity backer (https://investmentnews.com/mercer-raises-1-billion-in-recapitalization-deal-bringing-in-new-private-equity-backer-238431) - THL: THL Closes Secondary Transaction with Hightower (https://thl.com/articles/thl-closes-secondary-transaction-with-hightower/) - Business Wire: Creative Planning Announces Strategic Investment from TPG Capital (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240929582817/en/Creative-Planning-Announces-Strategic-Investment-from-TPG-Capital) - CAPTRUST: Carlyle Joins GTCR As Strategic Investor in CAPTRUST (https://www.captrust.com/carlyle-joins-gtcr-as-captrust-investor/) - Mariner: Mariner Announces Strategic Partnership with Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions (https://marinerwealthadvisors.com/newsroom/2024/10/29/mariner-announces-strategic-partnership-with-neuberger-berman-capital-solutions) - InvestmentNews: Genstar Capital buys majority stake in Cetera Financial Group (https://investmentnews.com/broker-dealers/genstar-capital-buys-majority-stake-in-cetera-financial-group/75079) - Avantax: Cetera Holdings Announces Close of Avantax Acquisition (https://avantax.com/about/news/cetera-closes-avantax-acquisition) - WealthManagement.com: Reverence Seeks Buyer for $2.5B Stake in Osaic (https://www.wealthmanagement.com/industry/reverence-seeks-buyer-25b-stake-osaic) - Business Wire: Kestra Financial Completes Recapitalization Including Warburg Pincus (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190604005189/en/Kestra-Financial-Completes-Recapitalization-Including-Warburg-Pincus) - Business Wire: Kestra Holdings Completes Recapitalization Including Stone Point Capital (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250203509211/en/Kestra-Holdings-Completes-Recapitalization-Including-Stone-Point-Capital) - LPL Financial (SEC Form 8-K): LPL Financial Closes Its Acquisition of Commonwealth Financial Network (https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1397911/000119312525171084/d810447dex991.htm) - InvestmentNews: Rising rates, falling revenue will dramatically change RIA M&A activity in 2023 (https://investmentnews.com/opinion/rising-rates-falling-revenue-will-dramatically-change-ria-ma-activity-in-2023/233549) - PR Newswire: Reverence Capital Partners Closes More Than $2 Billion Recapitalization of Osaic (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reverence-capital-partners-closes-more-than-2-billion-recapitalization-of-osaic-302759117.html) - Hamilton Lane: Hamilton Lane Serves as Sole Lead Investor in Cynosure Partners' Single-Asset Continuation Vehicle (https://www.hamiltonlane.com/en-us/news/cynosure-continuation-vehicle-deal) - InvestmentNews: SEC probes private equity continuation vehicles amid surge in deals (https://www.investmentnews.com/alternatives/sec-probes-private-equity-continuation-vehicles-amid-surge-in-deals/267139) - SEC: Form ADV Part 1A (Schedules A and B) (https://www.sec.gov/about/forms/formadv-part1a.pdf)