June was a stellar month for RIA M&A activity, signaling a possible rebound from the doldrums of April and May.
Fidelity reports 14 RIA deals with a total $20.6 billion in assets plus Orion Advisor Solutions’ purchase of Brinker Capital, with $24.5 billion in assets under management — more than double the seven deals reported in total for April and May.
“The market came back more rapidly than many had anticipated,” said Scott Slater, vice president of practice management and consulting at Fidelity. “There are still a lot of motivated buyers with lots of capital and low rates and firms looking for succession [arrangements] … and for platforms that can help them be more efficient and help them to scale operations.”
Slater said there could be some fluctuations in deal activity going forward, but he doesn’t expect a return to March and April’s low levels when each month’s deals represented $1.5 billion or less in total AUM.
In comparison, the 14 transactions in June, excluding Orion and Brinker Capital, averaged $1.5 billion in AUM each (Fidelity’s database excludes deals over $20 billion for historical comparison purposes), and the momentum for RIA M&A activity is continuing into July, Slater said.