Three trackers counted Q3's RIA deals. They got 125, 77 and 60.

Why the counts differ

Each publisher decides what counts as a deal. Echelon Partners reports its "core U.S. wealth management transaction count" and tracks technology and other deals separately. DeVoe & Company counts RIA transactions. FINTRX's Q3 report covers 60 announced deals and $100.9B of acquired AUM.

So the useful comparison is each count against its own past. On that test they still split. Echelon's 125 matched last year's record third quarter and put 2026 12.2% ahead of 2025 through September, with about 510 deals expected for the year against 466 in 2025. DeVoe's 77 was down 17% from 93 a year earlier.

The big deals kept coming

Echelon counted 37 deals of $1 billion or more in the quarter, and private-equity-backed buyers announced 92 of the 125, or 73.6%. DeVoe reports that sellers with more than $5 billion of AUM announced 41 deals through September, already more than in any previous full year.

Smaller sellers are on pace for a record-low share

In DeVoe's count, sellers with $100M–$500M of AUM made up 36% of deals through September, on pace for their lowest full-year share on record.

For scale: 5,934 of the 10,668 SEC-registered RIAs that serve individuals manage $100M–$500M, according to their Form ADV filings as of 3 Nov 2026.

Where the published multiples stand

The Sica Fletcher SCF Index that ValuationMCP prices from is still the 2024 edition; the weekly check on 2 Nov found no newer one. CT Acquisitions' July 2026 guide puts firms with $100M–$250M of AUM at 6.5–8.5× adjusted EBITDA, and $250M–$500M at 7.5–10.0×.

If you own a practice

Deal counts and published ranges describe the market, not your firm. What a buyer pays still comes down to your revenue, margin, client mix and succession plan.