Two-thirds of advisors and financial professionals in a new study from Nationwide said they expect M&A activity in the RIA sector to increase over the next 12 months. Fifty-four percent expect M&A to positively affect their practices this year, up from 42% in the 2020 study.
"Our seventh annual Advisor Authority study makes it crystal clear that RIAs and financial professionals in the wirehouse and broker-dealer channels are more bullish about M&A than we've seen in years," Craig Hawley, head of Nationwide Annuity Distribution, said in a statement.
"Valuations are rising as markets hit new highs and private equity gets in on the game, meaning some advisors and financial professionals are more than ready to monetize their practice. We also see a spike in consolidations as others are ready to double down and make their practice stronger — the need for scale, the impact of fee compression, the price tag for technology and the cost of compliance hits all firms hard, especially the smallest."
The Harris Poll conducted an online survey from July 22 to Aug. 17 among 790 RIAs, 790 broker-dealer reps, 501 wirehouse advisors and 160 other financial professionals, and 839 adult investors.
Bullish on M&A
At midyear, M&A activity in the RIA industry is on pace to surpass last year's high-water mark and hit a record for an eighth consecutive year, Nationwide said. The DeVoe & Co. RIA Deal Book noted that the rise in activity was largely driven by midsize firms selling at twice their usual volume.
Nationwide found that 73% of RIAs and fee-based financial professionals, 74% of wirehouse financial professionals and roughly 65% of BD financial professionals say that consolidation and M&A in the RIA industry will increase.
Expectations for deal flow are substantially higher than they were last year, with RIAs and fee-based financial professionals up 14 percentage points, wirehouse financial professionals up 9 points and broker-dealer financial professionals up 5 points.
Fifty-five percent of RIAs and fee-based financial professionals also expect M&A activity to have a positive effect on their businesses in the next 12 months, up from 39% last year. Likewise, wirehouse financial professionals, 68% vs. 38%, and broker-dealers, 52% vs. 39%.
The Many Benefits of M&A
Among survey participants who expect M&A to have a positive effect on their business, 2021 is the first year of Nationwide's study that RIAs and fee-based financial professionals say increased opportunity to sell their business is one of the leading benefits of M&A.
Thirty-five percent of RIAs and fee-based financial professionals cited increased selling opportunities as the top benefit of M&A, compared with 22% in 2020.
Nationwide said 2021 is also the first year that wirehouse financial professionals cite increased opportunities to sell their business as the leading benefit of M&A, up 13 points from last year and 38% and higher than previous years.
And broker-dealer financial professionals this year cite increased opportunities to sell their business as the second most important benefit of M&A, up 10 points from last year to 34% and substantially higher than prior years.
For years, advisors and financial professionals have said attracting and retaining clients is key for greater profitability and greater growth. M&A is one way to ensure that they have the resources to serve clients, according to Nationwide.
In fact, among RIAs and fee-based financial professionals who expect M&A to have a positive effect on their business, they have selected greater resources to serve their clients as a top benefit of M&A every year of the study, with the exception of last year, when it tied for the second most important benefit.
Wirehouse financial professionals, too, have selected the greater resources to serve clients as the top benefit of M&A every year, with the exception of this year, when it was the third most important. Meanwhile, broker-dealer financial professionals selected it third most important this year, down from the most important benefit in 2020.
