M&A activity within the wealth management industry remains strong, with more transactions of a larger size at the start of this year.
Fidelity released its January 2018 Wealth Management M&A Transaction Report, which examines M&A activity among RIAs and independent broker-dealers.
The report finds that M&A transactions in the first month of 2018 decreased slightly from the same period last year. However, total assets increased threefold.
According to the report, January 2018 saw 13 transactions involving $21.5 billion in assets under management. This is more than three times greater AUM than the 16 transactions made in January 2017, which had assets totaling $6.6 billion.
For comparison, in January 2016, there were 12 transactions with assets totaling $9.6 billion.
The start of the year also brought a return of strategic acquirers such as Focus Financial Partners, which the industry hasn't seen since October of last year.
