The Wire

Even Christmas won’t be a true day off for John Furey. 

‘We are running as a company nine concurrent M&A transactions. Two are going to close by the end of the year and we’ll probably close five more in the first quarter,’ the M&A consultant told Citywire. As a result, he said, his company, Advisor Growth Strategies, plans to work through the holidays this year.

‘It just keeps going.’

Dealmaking in the wealth management industry is red hot; deals in the registered investment advisory space have already surpassed 2020 volumes, and the year is not over yet. Further, valuations are at all-time highs, with some—as a multiple of cash flows—reaching the high teens for firms with $10 billion or more in assets, according to David DeVoe, founder and CEO of DeVoe & Company, speaking at the annual MarketCounsel Summit in Miami this week.

The Loch Ness Monster. Bigfoot. The Chupacabra. And… falling AUM fees? Add it to the pantheon of legendary mythological creatures.

Panelists at the MarketCounsel Summit in Miami this week agreed that fee compression, a much-touted concept over the last several years, hasn’t materialized in any meaningful way.

A team of ex-Raymond James advisors have launched a new Dynasty Financial Partners-backed RIA in rural Minnesota.

Bryan Sweet, Brittany Anderson, Ty Totzke and Oliver Kollofski have broken away to found Sweet Financial Partners, a new RIA with offices in Fairmont and Jackson, Minn. Joining them are fellow ex-RayJay advsiors Lynne Burgraff, Jacob Hartke and Amber Knips.

In a time of record mergers-and-acquisitions activity for financial advisory firms, designing and implementing a succession plan has become a critical element for success.

This volume and breadth of M&A activity has increased the pressure on, and options for, firm owners.