Steward Partners CEO: RIA M&A activity may be 10x higher

Jim Gold, chief executive of Steward Partners, warned that public counts of registered investment advisor mergers and acquisitions likely understate total activity by as much as tenfold. He said many mergers between solo advisors occur privately and do not appear in industry reports. Steward Partners, based in Stamford, Connecticut, has completed five M&A transactions so far this year.

Industry trackers reported 142 RIA transactions in the first quarter and projected record totals for 2026, but Gold said those figures largely reflect deals handled by major investment banks. He called the pattern ‘almost like underground M&A,’ arguing that reports tend to capture transactions where a banker is involved and miss direct mergers between small firms.

Steward Partners was founded in 2013 by former Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney employees. The firm has grown from under $100 million in client assets at launch to roughly $50 billion today, adding about $20 billion in the past two years and assembling a roster of about 300 advisor-owners. In 2023 Steward acquired Freedom Street Partners and appointed its former CEO, Scott Danner, to lead a unit focused on M&A.

The firm offers two affiliation paths: joining by recruiting or by acquisition. According to Gold, roughly 60% of recent affiliations have been acquisitions and 40% recruiting. Steward often structures ‘sell and stay’ deals that allow acquired teams to keep their name, client service practices and staff.

Gold noted trade-offs between the approaches. Acquisitions typically require larger upfront payments and take longer to produce EBITDA gains, while recruiting arrangements can be less costly over time. Steward commonly maintains higher ongoing compensation levels to retain team members who helped build a practice.

Private capital has supported Steward’s expansion. The firm completed three capital events in seven years and in December received $475 million from a subsidiary of Ares Management. Other backers include Cynosure Group and The Pritzker Organization. Gold added that investor feedback can highlight operational weaknesses sellers should address before going to market, such as outdated technology or weak processes.

On technology, Gold predicted artificial intelligence will alter the lower end of the wealth-management market. He said AI could make some mainstream investors comfortable using do-it-yourself tools, reducing demand for lower-fee advisor services, and estimated that up to 25% of current advisors could leave the business. He also said larger, more sophisticated teams are likely to capture a greater share of full-service client assets.

The remarks come amid a broader industry succession issue: a substantial share of assets remains with older advisors, creating steady demand for acquisition pathways that preserve client relationships. Gold maintained that publicly reported M&A counts may understate the true number of transactions among solo and small-team RIAs, many of which occur privately and remain outside conventional trackers.