(Photo: Shutterstock)
DeVoe & Co. has launched CapitalWorks, a new service that the consulting firm and investment bank said Thursday was developed to address the rising demand for capital among RIAs for M&As and internal succession planning.
The company has "informally consulted with RIAs on this for a few years now," Brad Grubb, its managing director, told ThinkAdvisor. Clients have engaged the firm for succession planning and have asked "if we knew of firms that would assist their younger, G2 advisors secure funding to acquire a percentage of the owner's shares," he said, adding: "In the past, we've provided this service informally but realized that there was a growing demand for" the level of service provided by CapitalWorks.
Of the growing number of M&As, DeVoe & Co. pointed in its announcement to findings in the second-quarter Nuveen/DeVoe RIA Deal Book, which reported the industry experienced record M&A activity in the first half of 2019 (65 transactions) and was on track to experience a sixth straight record year of M&A.
"Advisors are reaching out to us in increasing numbers to learn about lending and capital solutions for their businesses," David DeVoe, managing director of DeVoe & Co., said in the announcement. "Some don't know where to start; others are becoming overwhelmed by the number of new options. DeVoe CapitalWorks was designed to quickly assess their needs and then introduce them to one or more providers."
DeVoe & Co. research indicated that 54% of RIAs planned to acquire another company within two years. In addition, the vast majority of firms (92%) were planning internal succession, DeVoe & Co. said, citing the findings of an unspecified custodian's recent benchmarking study. In some cases, RIAs are working on an acquisition and internal succession planning and therefore may have multiple needs for capital, it said.
