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Consolidators in the wealth management industry expect a years-long rise in registered investment advisor valuations to finally flatline in the latter half of 2026. According to a survey released by DeVoe & Company on Thursday of more than 100 RIA executives, 82% anticipate stable RIA valuations, 18% expect declines, and none expect increases. The shift marks a notable change from 2025, when 8% of consolidators—defined as serial acquirers with acquisition strategies central to their business models—expected higher valuations, according to the industry M&A consultancy and investment bank. “The 2026 results suggest the market is entering a new phase,” DeVoe analysts wrote in the report. “After four years of record-high valuations, buyers continue to expand their pipelines, but expectations around pricing are becoming more measured.” According to DeVoe, the current buyer pool yields an unusually wide range of valuation outcomes.
Internal succession transactions anchor the lower end, while strategic RIA acquirers pay materially more, and PE-backed consolidators typically pay the highest valuations when sellers hire investment bankers to run competitive processes. The transactions commanding high multiples, north of 20x, typically involve firms managing tens or hundreds of billions in assets, with exceptional growth, profitability, leadership teams and strategic attributes that most sellers do not possess, according to DeVoe. According to DeVoe’s survey, larger RIAs will remain a top target amid the deal frenzy, with 46% of consolidators seeking firms between $1 billion and $5 billion in assets under management. “Notably, no respondents identified firms with less than $500 million in AUM as their primary acquisition target, underscoring how decisively buyer demand has shifted upmarket,” the DeVoe team wrote.