The U.S. wealth management M&A market remained relatively robust in the third quarter "despite continued capital markets uncertainty," with the 49 completed deals falling just slightly shy of the 52 transactions finalized in the second quarter, according to the Q3 2019 RIA M&A Deal Report released Tuesday by Echelon Partners.
Despite the slight dip from the second quarter, 2019 remains "on track to be another record-breaking year" for U.S. wealth management M&As, with more than 200 deals still projected to be completed, Echelon's report said.
There was, however, a major difference in deal size between the last two quarters, according to the company.
Midsize firms, with assets under management between $300 million and $1 billion, drove activity during the second quarter despite volatility in capital markets, Echelon reported.
But, in Q3, there was an increase in the number of deals involving firms with over $1 billion in AUM and the average AUM transacted per deal, "reversing" the trend of declining deal size in the first half of this year, Echelon said. Private equity firms and banks were the buyers most interested in larger platforms during Q3, it noted.
