RIA M&A Activity Redlines Toward Record Year, Poised to Surpass 300 Deals: Devoe & Co.
The registered investment advisory (RIA) mergers and acquisitions market continues to accelerate toward a record-breaking year, with 2025 poised to surpass all previous benchmarks for deal activity, according to the latest RIA Deal Book from DeVoe & Co. The firm counted 94 transactions in the third quarter, well above the previous record of 81 deals set during the same period last year, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of unusually strong activity.
Earlier quarters have shown the same upward trajectory—75 deals in Q1, a first-quarter record, and 73 in Q2, another all-time high for that period—indicating a sustained surge in consolidation across the advisory landscape. At the current pace, DeVoe projects that 2025 will exceed 300 total transactions, shattering last year’s record of 272.
“RIA M&A is on fire. The activity has been redlining for four quarters,” said David DeVoe, founder and CEO of DeVoe & Co. “2025 is set to break a new record and is on track to exceed 300 transactions.”
The report also found that deal size continues to grow, with the average target firm managing $1.04 billion in assets under management year-to-date—up from $929 million in 2024 and $819 million in 2023, though still slightly below the 2021 average of $1.1 billion.
In addition to the surge in deal volume, private-equity-backed consolidators have regained dominance in the RIA M&A landscape. Their participation has climbed to 49% of total deals this year, up from 39% during the same period in 2024, reversing a gradual decline that began in 2021. Meanwhile, independent RIAs have seen their share of transactions fall to 28%, compared with 38% last year, signaling that large, well-capitalized platforms are increasingly driving consolidation.
DeVoe’s analysis includes transactions involving traditional RIAs with at least $100 million in AUM, excluding routine advisor transitions unless they involve meaningful strategic developments.
A separate report from Echelon Partners paints a similarly robust picture of deal activity, counting 125 transactions in the third quarter and projecting a total of 440 deals for 2025, another industry record. Echelon’s broader methodology includes mergers, acquisitions, and advisor movements among RIAs managing more than $100 million.