Category

RIA Valuation Insights

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February 11, 2020 Industry Trends

RIA “Comps” Don’t Always Tell the Same Story

Divergent Performances of LM, TROW, BEN, and AMG Show Industry’s Susceptibility to Company Specific Events Over Market Forces

Relying on comparable public company data in the valuation of your RIA can be tricky and the performance of the publics over the past 12 months bears that out. We don’t typically see a 40%+ increase in value (TROW) and a ~25% decline in a bull market (AMG) for two businesses in the same industry. So, it’s important to understand the impact of market forces but it’s more important to understand the unique nature of your business and what is in your control and what isn’t. This week’s post takes a deeper dive into this topic.

February 3, 2020 Transactions Wealth Management

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Drivers of Valuation in Wealth Management M&A

Fidelity recently published a study on M&A activity in the wealth management industry highlighting sellers’ ambitious expectations of the value of their firms Fidelity’s conclusion: sellers of investment management firms often “don’t entirely understand what drives valuation.” In this post we hope to provide insight to the owners of wealth management firms on how likely buyers value their firm.

January 27, 2020 Transactions

Are Sponsor-Backed Initiatives Distorting RIA M&A?

Barbarians at the Gate 2 – Electric Boogaloo

Investment management is a great business.  Firms that don’t need to sell, don’t sell. If transaction activity is up, does this mean that more firms need to sell?  If pricing and deal terms are better, are the transactions available today really that much more attractive than those available a few years ago?  And is the culture of consolidation that has emerged in the RIA community sustainable?

January 20, 2020 Transactions

RIA Consolidators Drive Record Deal Activity in 2019

Asset and Wealth Manager M&A Continues Decade-Long Upward Trend

Asset and wealth manager M&A continued at a rapid pace during the fourth quarter of 2019, rounding out a record year by many metrics.  Total deal count in 2019 rose 6% over 2018, reaching the highest level seen over the last decade.  While reported deal volume declined by 50% in 2019, this metric can be a less reliable indicator of transaction activity given the lack of disclosed deal terms and the influence of large transactions. In 2020, we expect several trends to continue as many of the forces that shaped the industry over the last decade remain in place. 

January 13, 2020 Industry Trends Margins and Compensation Wealth Management

Wealth Management: Then and Now

How the Wealth Management Industry has Transformed Over the Last Decade

As we enter the new decade, rather than taking time for self-reflection, we prefer to take a step back and reflect on the radical transformation of the wealth management industry over the last ten years. Wealth managers have been forced to adapt in order to maintain their client base and remain profitable, and while these changes have not been easy, they have transformed the industry into one that is more focused on its clients’ needs and better regulated to ensure the safety of its clients’ assets.

January 6, 2020 Industry Trends

All Classes of Investment Management Firms Outperformed the Market in Q4

2019 Was Also a Bull Market for the RIA Industry

As good as the fourth quarter was for the S&P, it was even better for the RIA industry. All classes of investment management firms bested the market, which was up 10% for the quarter. Continued gains in the equity markets have allowed these firms to more than recover from last year’s correction, and many of these businesses are now trading at or near all-time highs.

December 23, 2019 Industry Trends

‘Twas the Blog Before Christmas…

2019 Mercer Capital RIA Holiday Quiz

As year-end approaches, we hope to spread some cheer with our second annual RIA holiday quiz. Merry Christmas!

December 16, 2019 Asset Management

Will Your Succession be Successful?

A Few Things RIAs Need to Know

We’ve hesitated to put together a whitepaper on succession planning because so many people have already written excellent commentary on the topic. Nonetheless, when we surveyed what had been written about succession for RIAs, we didn’t see the kind of … Continued

December 9, 2019 Practice Management

Debt Financing for RIAs

How to Finance an Ownership Transition

As noted in a recent post, there are many viable options for RIA principals when it comes to succession planning.  One way to transition ownership while maintaining independence is to sell internally to key staff members.  The most obvious roadblock when planning for internal succession is pricing.  But once you establish a price, how does the next generation pay?  An internal transition of ownership typically requires debt and/or seller financing as it’s unlikely that the next generation is able or willing to purchase 100% ownership in a matter of months.  In this post, we consider the expanding options for RIAs seeking debt financing and the typical terms they can expect.

December 2, 2019 Transactions

Private Equity’s Silent Push into the RIA Space

Is Private Equity the Solution to Your Succession Planning Needs?

Private equity pervades the RIA industry, but most of their recent interest is through consolidators or roll-up firms.  In this week’s post, we’ll discuss the implications of this trend and other considerations for RIA owners’ contemplating the PE route.

November 26, 2019 Current Events Wealth Management

Are Wealth Management Margins About to Get Buried?

SchwabiTrade isn’t the Only Threat to the Most Consistent Profit Stream in the RIA Community

It’s hard to see the advent of SchwabiTrade as a good thing for the RIA community – especially the wealth management community. If Schwab is looking to recapture margins from zero commission trading and low rates on sweep accounts, it need look no further than the ten thousand plus RIAs now in its eco-system.

November 18, 2019 Industry Trends Transactions

What Should You Expect as an RIA Buyer or Seller?

Advisor Growth Strategies’ New Study Offers Insights into RIA Deal Mechanics

RIA M&A has been a well-publicized topic in the industry. There was a record level of RIA M&A in 2018, and so far in 2019 there are no signs that deal pace is slowing down. Against this backdrop, a new study conducted by Advisor Growth Strategies (AGS) and sponsored by BlackRock provides some insight into the state of deal terms in the RIA M&A market from the perspective of both buyers and sellers. We’ve highlighted some of the key takeaways from the study in this week’s post.

November 11, 2019 Current Events Practice Management

Q3 2019 Call Reports

Differentiated Strategies of Asset Managers, Wealth Managers, and RIA Consolidators

During Q3 2019, most classes of RIA stocks underperformed major equity markets, which are having their best year, so far at least, in more than two decades. In general, base fees for RIAs were up due to higher average AUM (driven by market growth), however, each sector experienced unique challenges. As we do every quarter, we take a look at some of the earnings commentary from investment management pacesetters to scope out the dominate trends.

November 5, 2019 Transactions

Acquisitions of Consolidators Continue to Drive RIA Deal Activity

Asset and Wealth Manager M&A Keeping Pace with 2018’s Record Levels

Through the first three quarters of 2019, asset and wealth manager M&A has kept up with 2018, the busiest year for sector M&A during the last decade.  Transaction activity is poised to continue at a rapid pace as business fundamentals and consolidation pressures continue to drive deal activity.  Several trends which have driven the uptick in sector M&A in recent years have continued into 2019, including increasing activity by RIA aggregators and mounting cost pressures.

October 28, 2019 Practice Management Wealth Management

WeInvest?

The Best Business Model in the RIA Industry Depends Not on Who You Ask, but Who’s Asking

Earlier this month we had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on the value of wealth management firms in a transaction setting for the CFA Society of New York.  In conversation after the event, one of the audience members asked me what I thought was the most successful business model to follow in the wealth management space.  It’s a question we hear fairly often, and I try to avoid punting on the answer and saying “it depends.”  In reality, though, it does depend.

October 21, 2019 Industry Trends

Q3 2019 RIA Market Update

Asset and Wealth Management Stocks Languish in the Third Quarter

The asset and wealth management industry is facing numerous headwinds, chief among them being ongoing pressure for lower fees.  Traditional asset and wealth managers feel this pressure acutely, which has likely contributed to their relative underperformance over the last quarter.  Alt managers, which have been the sector’s sole bright spot during this time, are more insulated from fee pressure due to the lack of passive alternatives to drive fees down. These headwinds have contributed to a decline in EBITDA multiples for traditional asset/wealth managers, which in turn has resulted in lackluster stock price performance.

October 15, 2019 Alternative Asset Managers

Alternative Asset Managers

Performance Update

In May of this year, assets in passively managed funds equaled assets actively managed for the first time in history.  As investors seek low-cost solutions, alternative managers are working to solidify their place in investors’ portfolios.  Despite the headwinds the asset management industry faces, most investors still value the diversification offered by alternative assets, particularly late in the economic cycle.  In this post, we take a closer look at how alternative asset managers are performing in light of the broader shift from active to passive management and increased fee pressure.

October 8, 2019 Practice Management

Transitioning Your Business to the Next Generation of Leadership

Successful Succession for RIAs

Continuing with our succession series, this week’s focus is on internal transitions.  If you’ve ever wondered why there aren’t more transactions in the RIA space, it’s largely because most of these businesses ultimately transition their ownership internally to younger partners at the firm.  These deals typically don’t get reported, so you probably don’t hear about most of them.  Still, it’s the most common type of transaction for investment management firms and probably something that’s crossed your mind if you’re approaching retirement.

October 2, 2019 Practice Management

Planning to Succeed

Succession is as often discussed as it is misunderstood.  While many practice management issues revolve around industry expectations, regulations, client expectations, and basic economics, succession involves all of those things plus personality, culture, and skill sets.  And while much has been written about succession in the RIA industry, we’ve seen plenty of topics get little, if any attention.  This post is dedicated to some of the latter.

September 16, 2019 Practice Management

Selling Your RIA to a Consolidator  

Successful Succession for RIAs

As we explained in a recent post, there are many viable exit options for RIA principals when it comes to succession planning.  In this post, we will review some of the considerations when partnering with an RIA consolidator. 

September 9, 2019 Practice Management

Partnering with a Minority Financial Investor

Successful Succession for RIAs

As we explained in a recent post, there are many viable exit options for RIA principals when it comes to succession planning. In this post we will review some considerations of partnering with a minority financial investor to achieve a successful transition of ownership.

September 3, 2019 Practice Management

Posturing for a Successful Succession

A recent Schwab survey asked RIA principals to rank their firm’s top priorities in the coming year.  We were disappointed but not surprised to discover that developing a succession plan was dead last. If you’re a founding partner or selling principal, you have a lot of exit options, and it’s never too soon to start thinking about succession planning. We’ll outline these options in this post and expound upon them in more detail later in the series.

August 26, 2019 Transactions

Purchase Accounting Considerations for Banks Acquiring Asset Managers

As banks of all sizes seek new ways to differentiate themselves in a competitive market, we see many banks contemplating the acquisition of an existing asset management firm as a way to expand and diversify the range of services they can offer to clients. Transaction structures between banks and asset managers can be complicated, often including deal term nuances and clauses that have significant impact on fair value. Asset management firms are unique entities with value attributed to a number of different metrics (assets under management, management fee revenue, realized fee margin, etc.). It is important to understand how the characteristics of the asset management industry, in general, and those attributable to a specific firm, influence the values of the assets acquired in these transactions.

August 20, 2019 Practice Management

How Does Your RIA Measure Up?

Schwab’s 2019 Benchmarking Study Offers Insights Into the RIA Industry

Schwab recently released its 2019 RIA Benchmarking Study.  The survey contains responses from over 1,300 RIAs that custody their assets at Schwab to questions about firm operating performance, strategy, and practice management.  The survey is a great resource for RIA principals to see how their firm’s performance and direction measure up against the average firm.  We’ve highlighted some of the key results from the study in this week’s post.