DeVoe Tracks Advisory M&A Slowdown, While MarshBerry Sees ‘Breakout Year’

Geopolitical uncertainty and market volatility during the third quarter of 2026 are resulting in a pullback in registered investment advisers mergers and acquisitions, according to analysis by DeVoe & Co., a consulting firm and investment bank.

In wealth advisory M&A, however, investment banking and consulting firm MarshBerry’s latest update predicted deals this year will exceed those completed in 2025.

Quoting research presented during a Thursday event in Huntington Beach, California, David DeVoe, the founder and CEO of DeVoe & Co., said the reduced M&A activity for RIAs could keep 2026’s total short of last year’s record-setting total.

According to DeVoe & Co., 72 RIA transactions have been announced in this year’s third quarter, as of September 22—a 19% year-over-year decrease from the 89 deals during the same period in 2025. This year’s second quarter had 74 transactions (up  approximately 1% year-over-year), down from 93 transactions in the first quarter (which was a 24% year-over-year increase).

In a statement, David DeVoe said that the geopolitical and market shocks of the past 18 months have started to impact M&A deals, which often take between six to 18 months to execute.

“During periods of volatility, advisers appropriately turn their attention to clients,” David DeVoe said in his statement. “Major strategic decisions move down the priority list. RIA owners have not abandoned their plans to sell. They simply delayed the timing.”

He added that the M&A market “could bounce back in the near term” and “did not lose its long-term momentum.” According to DeVoe & Co.’s analysis, factors driving M&A are still there, including advisory firms’ need for succession options, greater demand for scale and continued buyer interest in high-quality firms.

“The market … likely experienced a pause in the formation of new transactions,” DeVoe said in his statement. “Although September is on track to be an extremely weak month, we expect activity to accelerate over the next several months and quarters.”

In July, DeVoe & Co. announced a record-setting number of M&A transactions in the first half of the year but also reported weakening buyer sentiment. Among surveyed consolidators—serial acquirers of firms—18% expected RIA valuation to decline this year, compared with 7% that expected so last year.

MarshBerry Foresees Records Broken in 2026

Investment banking and consulting firm MarshBerry’s 2026 Mid-Year Market Update, also released Thursday, stated that 2026 is matching the firm’s expectations of a “breakout year” for M&A among wealth advisory firms. There were 230 transactions announced through July and more than 400 expected for the full year, compared with 2025’s total of 394.

Kim Kovalski, a managing director at MarshBerry, said in a company video that the first half of 2025 had 232 transactions, slightly more than this year, but, “based on the conversations that we are having with buyers,” transactions will pick up before the end of the year.

“We’re seeing a greater desire on the part of sellers,” Kovalski said in the video. “Concerns around [artificial intelligence], concerns around valuations holding … [and] continued demographic changes … are driving groups to pursue a sale sooner rather than later.”

John Orsini, director of MarshBerry’s wealth advisory division, found that the momentum in wealth management M&A continued through August; writing on September 16 that the 259 announced transactions through the end of August represented a 7.5% year-over-year increase.

While Orsini would not comment on DeVoe’s findings, he tells PLANADVISER that some buyers are reporting limited capacity for additional transactions before year-end, and firms for which the sale process is not already well underway may face difficulty closing a deal in 2026, which could impact yearly figures.

By Orsini’s count, the 10 largest buyers represented 32% of total transactions through August 31, and the three largest acquirers—Wealth Enhancement Group, Hightower Advisors LLC and Carson Group—accounted for 18.1% of all announced deals.

Private–capital-backed buyers were responsible for 182 transactions (70.3% of the year-to-date total, down from the 2025 year-end figure of 74.0%). Independent firms were behind 22.8% of year-to-date deals, compared with 21.8% of total sales in 2025, according to Orsini.