Strategic Acquirers with ‘Strong Pipelines’ in Wealth Management M&A: Fidelity

The wealth management space is set for more mergers and acquisitions thanks to strong pipelines reported by strategic acquirers, as private equity continues playing a major role, according to a recent report.

In all, 14 registered investment advisor firm deals took place in April, representing $11.4 billion in assets under management, according to Fidelity Wealth Management’s latest mergers and acquisitions transaction report, which included deals involving registered investment advisor firms with more than $100 million but less than $30 billion in assets under management or advisement and broker-dealer firms with more than $1 billion in assets under administration.

In all, 93% of the RIA deals had PE backing last month, Fidelity said.

PE firms are also moving in and out of strategic investments: Last month saw one minority- and one majority-stake investment, according to the report.

And the two RIA acquirers making their debuts in April had PE backing, Fidelity said.

Strategic acquirers accounted for 71% of April’s transactions and 47% of assets bought, according to the report.

The broker-dealer space saw just one deal in April: Atria Wealth Solutions’ acquisition of Grove Point Financial and its $15 billion in assets, according to the report.

Year-to-date, Fidelity has recorded 83 deals as of the end of April.