RIA Valuation Insights

A weekly update on issues important to the Investment Management industry

Transactions

When a Buyer Offers You Stock

Fairness Considerations in Equity Financed Transactions

Stock consideration is rarely discussed in RIA transactions but is a common financing feature in other industries. We expect to see more stock-for-stock deals in RIAs for two reasons. As debt financing becomes more expensive (and scarce) and consolidators start to question how much leverage they want to maintain, buyers will be tempted to use equity consideration instead of cash. And if capital gains tax rates rise and sellers can use rollover equity to defer gains, the structure will become more attractive to sellers. How can a seller decide whether or not to accept a suitor’s stock? Find out in this week’s post.

Current Events Industry Trends Wealth Management

As Deal Momentum Slows, What’s Next for Wealth Management Consolidation?

Early last year, as market conditions began to deteriorate, we (along with many others) predicted a coming slowdown in RIA M&A activity. Despite this environment, we were initially proven wrong: RIA M&A activity seemingly defied gravity as the pace of deal activity continued to keep pace with record 2021 levels. Now, the data suggests that deal activity is beginning to lose momentum. So, is the slowdown here to stay?  What does this mean for the future of deal activity?  In this week’s post, we discuss a few predictions for the year ahead.

Industry Trends Wealth Management

Wealth Management in Turbulent Times

Navigating the Challenges Ahead

2022 proved to be a challenging year for the stock market as a whole and the RIA industry.  With persistent inflation, rising interest rates, a tight labor market, and heightened geopolitical tensions, it’s no surprise that this resulted in the decline of nearly all stock market sectors over the last year, which was especially true for the RIA industry. But with the prospect of a potential recession in 2023, the worst may still be ahead. 

Industry Trends Transactions

RIA M&A Update

RIA M&A activity set new records in 2022, even as macro headwinds for the industry emerged throughout the year. However, deal volume was most significant in the first half of 2022 and began to cool in the second half of the year, particularly in the fourth quarter. Although transaction volume is still up over the prior year, there has been a decline in the size of these transactions.

Industry Trends

The Eye of the Storm

RIAs Outperform the S&P 500 in Q4 2022

The RIA industry saw a strong fourth quarter rally, driving most categories of publicly traded investment managers to outperform the S&P in the last quarter of the year. Alternative asset managers, however, declined from their early-November peak to perform in line with the S&P during this period. In our blog this week, we take a look at the performance of the RIA industry by sector and AUM in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Industry Trends

‘Twas the Blog Before Christmas…

The 2022 Mercer Capital RIA Holiday Poem

It has become a tradition for the RIA team at Mercer Capital to end the blog year with a “unique” annual summary of industry events, riffing off Clement Clark Moore’s classic “A Visit from St. Nicholas.”  We hope all of you in the investment management community are enjoying the holiday season and looking forward to the many opportunities of the new year.  We look forward to hearing from you in 2023.  For now, please enjoy the finest only holiday poem written about money management.

Investment Management

Mercer Capital provides RIAs, trust companies, and investment consultants with corporate valuation, litigation support, transaction advisory, and related services