A wave of consolidation is sweeping through the United States wealth management industry, as firms engage in a record-breaking dealmaking spree to capture a share of the nation's rapidly growing personal wealth. This frenzy is transforming a traditionally fragmented landscape, creating larger national players and reshaping how financial advice is delivered, particularly to the ultra-wealthy.
The Acquisition Boom: From Local Shops to National Giants
The activity is palpable even at the local level. Mark Armbruster, owner of New York-based Armbruster Capital Management, which manages $1 billion in assets, has watched as competitors in his Rochester area are steadily bought out. He notes a constant stream of inquiries from potential buyers, a testament to the intense market interest. Industry experts confirm this is a nationwide trend.
James Anderson, co-head of Houlihan Lokey's financial-services group, states that deals for Registered Investment Advisers (RIAs) in 2025 are on track to match or exceed the record of roughly 250 transactions set in 2024. He remarked that "'Frenzy' is not too strong a word" to describe the current pace. These RIAs, which number in the thousands, operate with a fiduciary duty and typically charge fees based on assets under management, sitting largely outside the big Wall Street banks.
Drivers of the Deal Wave: Aging Owners, Private Equity, and a Wealth Surge
Multiple powerful forces are converging to fuel this M&A boom. A key factor is the aging ownership of many independent firms seeking succession plans. Simultaneously, private-equity firms are pouring capital into the sector, attracted by its stable client relationships, recurring revenue streams, and relatively low capital requirements.
Underpinning everything is an extraordinary accumulation of wealth, especially since the pandemic. An analysis of Federal Reserve data by economist Steven Fazzari of Washington University in St. Louis reveals striking figures. For the top 0.1% of US households, roughly one-third of their real wealth growth since 1990 has occurred since 2020. The rest of the top 1% also saw significant inflation-adjusted growth, with 16% of their comparable wealth created in this short period. This explosion of assets has supercharged demand for sophisticated wealth management services.
Strategic Plays: Building Scale to Serve the Super-Rich
Buyers argue that scale is critical in today's market. Larger asset bases allow firms to offer exclusive investment products and become a one-stop shop, providing everything from complex tax-and-estate planning to concierge services like property management for ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) clients.
Firms like Creative Planning, based in Overland Park, Kansas, exemplify this strategy. CEO Peter Mallouk said the firm has acquired about 20 small firms in the past two years to bolster its local market presence. Its assets are projected to surge to over $650 billion by 2026, up from approximately $375 billion in late 2023. The firm's valuation skyrocketed more than fivefold between 2020 and 2024, reaching around $16 billion, and it now serves over 150 billionaire and centimillionaire families.
Another major consolidator is Miami-based Corient, led by Kurt MacAlpine. Soon to oversee more than $400 billion in assets, Corient focuses squarely on the ultra-wealthy, filling what MacAlpine called a "void in ultrahigh net worth" services. Its acquisition of European firms Stanhope Capital Group and Stonehage Fleming added over $200 billion in assets. Corient's pitch is comprehensive family office service, assigning teams of 6-10 advisers to a single family to handle everything from bill payments and tax plans to private aviation logistics.
MacAlpine's outlook underscores the sector's momentum: "My deal pipeline is as robust, if not more robust, than it's ever been." As private capital continues to flow and wealth concentrations rise, the reshaping of America's wealth management landscape appears far from over.
