Sell Your RIA in New Hampshire (2026): Valuation, PE Aggregators & Client-Consent Deal Mechanics

RIA M&A is in the deepest seller’s market in industry history, and that matters if you own a wealth management firm in New Hampshire. Echelon Partners counted 466 RIA M&A transactions in 2025 (up 27% year-over-year, an all-time record); DeVoe & Company counted 322 transactions on their narrower methodology, also a record. Q1 2026 alone matched Q3 2025 at 93 deals (DeVoe), tying the all-time quarterly record. Fidelity’s 2024 Wealth Management M&A Transaction Report found that 89% of all closed RIA deals had a PE sponsor behind the buyer — an all-time high, up from 43% in 2016. The structural reasons are simple: Cerulli’s U.S. Advisor Metrics 2024 work projects that 109,000 financial advisors (37.4% of industry headcount, controlling 41.4% of industry assets) will retire by 2034, internal succession is rare because next-generation advisors lack the personal capital to buy founders out at fair-market multiples, and PE-backed aggregators can write a check today and offer equity rollover into a platform compounding at 18%-22% IRR.

This guide covers what a New Hampshire RIA is worth in 2026 and how to sell it well. We walk through 2024-2026 multiples by AUM tier, the fee-only recurring revenue premium and platform-versus-tuck-in arbitrage math that drives platform bidding, the named PE-backed aggregators acquiring across the US with current ownership detail, the sub-vertical hierarchy (fee-only RIA, hybrid B-D, multi-family office, OCIO / retirement-plan combos, and the emerging CPA-led wealth category), the SEC and state Investment Adviser Act of 1940 regulatory framework including Section 205 client-consent assignment, Form ADV change-of-control filing, and custodian re-papering, and the deal mechanics specific to RIA sales — AUM-retention earnouts, advisor non-competes (where enforceable), Broker Protocol status, and equity rollover economics.

CT Acquisitions runs confidential, buy-side processes. We are not a business broker — the buyer pays our fee, and a seller pays no commission, no retainer, and signs no exclusivity contract. For broader context, see our complete guide to selling an RIA or wealth management firm, our analysis of the top wealth managers for business owners post-exit, and the investment manager due-diligence checklist. The free valuation survey takes about three minutes.

How New Hampshire RIAs are valued in 2026 — the AUM-tiered multiple framework

Valuation multiples for U.S. RIAs continue to sit at a near-decade high heading into 2026. According to Sica Fletcher’s 2024 RIA Valuation Multiples Report and follow-up market data, the median adjusted-EBITDA multiple on closed RIA deals reached 11.0x in 2024 (up from 9.9x in 2023) and stayed in the 11x-12x band through 2025 as competitive bidding by PE-backed aggregators kept pressure on platform prices. Tiering from Mercer Capital, Sica Fletcher and practitioner commentary looks like this: sub-$250M AUM (lifestyle / tuck-in book) trades at 4-7x EBITDA or 1.0-1.8x revenue, typically priced on take-home cash flow plus the buyer’s post-synergy margin rather than enterprise EBITDA. $250M-$1B AUM (growth tuck-in) trades at 7-10x EBITDA or 1.8-2.7x revenue once the firm can scale on the buyer’s compliance, HR and tech stack without adding a back office. $1B-$5B AUM (platform-grade) trades at 10-14x EBITDA or 2.7-3.5x revenue, with $1B-$3B firms commanding 12-14x at the high end. $5B+ AUM and UHNW / multi-family-office practices trade at 14-20x+ EBITDA, with published Financial Advisor magazine reporting citing 20x EBITDA paid for top UHNW firms in 2024-25. On a top-line basis, mid-2025 market commentary puts the typical RIA revenue multiple in a 2.0x-4.0x band with roughly 3.1x as the current industry average. The headline driver, confirmed in Mercer Capital’s 2025 PE-influence note, is that more than 40 active aggregator buyers are now chasing each high-quality seller.

RIA / wealth firm profile	Typical multiple	What moves it
Sub-$250M AUM (lifestyle / tuck-in)	1.0-1.8x revenue / 4-7x EBITDA	Priced on take-home cash flow plus post-synergy margin, not enterprise EBITDA
$250M-$1B AUM (growth tuck-in)	1.8-2.7x revenue / 7-10x EBITDA	Scales on buyer’s compliance, HR, tech stack without back-office add
$1B-$5B AUM (platform-grade)	2.7-3.5x revenue / 10-14x EBITDA	$1B-$3B firms reach 12-14x at high end
$5B+ AUM and UHNW / multi-family office	14-20x+ EBITDA	Family-office bidders pay into high-teens / 20x for sticky UHNW books
Headline 2024 median	11.0x EBITDA (up from 9.9x in 2023)	Per Sica Fletcher 2024 RIA Valuation Multiples Report

The pattern that matters: the platform-versus-tuck-in arbitrage is the entire economic engine of the RIA roll-up trade. A $400M tuck-in seller is bought at 7x-9x EBITDA; the acquirer is itself valued at 14x-20x EBITDA at the holding-company level — the same dollar of EBITDA reprices six turns higher the moment it transfers. This is why earnest aggregators will pay above-headline-comp economics for a quality $300M-$2B book and why equity rollover into the platform is the most under-appreciated part of consideration.

The fee-only recurring revenue premium — why RIAs trade above generic services

The reason RIAs trade at multiples two to three turns above generic financial services businesses is the quality of the revenue stream, not the absolute revenue level. Fee-only RIAs charge a percentage of AUM (typically 0.50%-1.25% on the first dollars, sliding lower into the upper tiers), billed quarterly in arrears, against a custodial balance the client almost never moves. Cerulli’s U.S. Advisor Metrics 2024 work and Schwab’s 2024 RIA Benchmarking Study peg industry-wide client retention around 97% over the past decade — meaning an acquirer underwriting a fee-only book is essentially buying a contractual annuity: same client, same custodian, same 1% on the same $1M household, year after year, with growth on top of the market’s own appreciation. Three reasons fee-only beats commission-based and hybrid models on exit value: predictability (AUM fees compound with markets, do not require re-sale every year, and survive most relationship transitions because they are wired to the custodian, not to a product); fiduciary lock-in (once a client has signed an advisory contract and the assets sit at Schwab, Fidelity or Pershing, the buyer inherits a tightly defined fiduciary relationship that is economically and legally hard for a defecting advisor to unwind); and margin scalability (a fee-only book added to a $1B+ platform drops 35%-50% of incremental revenue to EBITDA because compliance, HR, billing and tech are already sunk costs). Commission-bearing books and insurance-tilted hybrids transact at materially lower multiples — closer to 4x-6x EBITDA — because the revenue is event-driven, the regulator is FINRA (with broker-dealer overhead), and post-close production retention is the buyer’s risk.

Earnout structures and what New Hampshire aggregator buyers actually underwrite

RIA acquisitions are almost never all-cash at close. Typical structures seen in 2024-2025 PE-aggregator deals carry 40%-60% of total consideration in earnout or equity rollover, with the headline cash component representing only the floor. The earnout base is typically 60%-80% of headline purchase price, with measurement windows of 2-3 years (some platform deals use 5-year tails). The measurement metric is usually a blend of AUM retention (95% retained at month 24 is the industry benchmark per Sica Fletcher) and revenue retention, with explicit carve-outs for market movement so the seller is not punished for an S&P drawdown. Many PE platforms layer a growth earnout on top of the retention earnout: hit 5%-10% organic AUM growth in the earnout period and an additional bonus tranche unlocks. PE-backed platforms typically require the principal seller to roll 20%-40% of their proceeds into platform-level equity — this aligns interests for the eventual platform sale (the second bite of the apple) and is often where the highest-IRR dollars sit for an RIA principal. Because Section 205 of the Advisers Act makes advisory contracts non-assignable without client consent, a chunk of the earnout is invariably tied to passing the 45-day negative-consent window without a material client run-off. Bottom line: a $40M headline deal commonly looks like $20M-$24M cash at close, $8M-$12M equity rollover into the platform, and $8M-$12M of contingent earnout tied to 24-month retention and growth.

Platform-versus-tuck-in arbitrage — where the second-bite economics live

The single most important number for a selling principal to understand is the platform-arbitrage spread. A $400M-AUM tuck-in seller is being bought at roughly 7x-9x EBITDA. The acquirer (Mariner, Wealth Enhancement Group, Mercer Advisors, Captrust, Cerity Partners, Hightower, Pathstone, Modern Wealth Management, Wealthspire, Beacon Pointe, Snowden Lane, NewEdge Wealth, EP Wealth, Carson Group, Allworth, Savant Wealth, Sequoia Financial and the rest of the aggregator universe) is itself valued at 14x-20x EBITDA at the holding-company level. That roughly six-turn spread between purchase multiple and platform multiple — held by the same dollar of EBITDA the moment it transfers from your books to theirs — is the entire economic engine of the RIA roll-up trade. For sellers this matters in two ways. First, it explains why earnest acquirers will pay above-headline-comp economics for a quality $300M-$2B book: the value capture happens on the platform side, not on the per-deal side. Second, it makes equity rollover the most under-appreciated part of consideration: rolling 25%-35% of proceeds into a platform compounding at 18%-22% IRR is usually worth multiples of what an extra 10% cash at close would have been. The second bite when the PE sponsor recapitalizes — as Mercer, Cerity, Captrust, Wealth Enhancement Group, Mariner, Pathstone and Steward Partners have all done in 2021-2024 — is where the largest single payouts to legacy advisors have historically come from. The opposite is also true: lifestyle sellers below $200M AUM rarely get the platform multiple because their book cannot be cleanly stacked onto a national operating platform without integration drag — they sell on take-home cash flow at 4x-6x post-synergy EBITDA.

Who is buying New Hampshire RIAs in 2024-2026 — named aggregators with current ownership

Roughly 89% of all closed RIA M&A in 2024 had a private-equity sponsor behind the buyer, per Fidelity’s 2024 Wealth Management M&A Transaction Report — an all-time record, up from 43% in 2016. Three of every four deals in 2024 were closed by PE-backed aggregator platforms. Cerulli data shows PE-backed platforms now control nearly a quarter of all RIA industry assets despite representing only ~3.7% of firms. The identifiable buyer universe is small and concentrated. Focus Financial Partners was taken private August 2023 by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in a $7B+ EV deal (Stone Point retained equity); Focus owns 90+ partner firms and offers more autonomy at lower multiples than tuck-in roll-ups. Mariner Wealth Advisors (Overland Park, Kansas; Marty Bicknell still controls) took its first minority from Leonard Green & Partners in July 2021 and added Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions in October 2024, with AUM north of $245B across the holding company. Mercer Advisors (Denver) is owned equal-thirds by Genstar, Oak Hill Capital and Altas Partners after the June 2023 Altas expansion at roughly $48B AUM and a $3B+ valuation. Wealth Enhancement Group (Plymouth, Minnesota) has TA Associates (since 2019) and Onex Partners V (since August 2021) as equal institutional partners, with $100B+ AUM by 2025 and a track record as one of the most prolific buyers in the industry. Hightower Advisors (Chicago) has had Thomas H. Lee Partners as its majority owner since 2018; THL ran a secondary continuation-vehicle transaction on Hightower in 2024 to extend hold (NOT a new PE buyer), with $325B+ AUM. Captrust (Raleigh, North Carolina) has GTCR minority since 2020 (25%) and Carlyle minority since September 2023, with a ~$3.7B equity valuation and $832B+ in AUA across institutional and private wealth. Beacon Pointe Advisors (Newport Beach) has KKR as a minority investor since November 2021 (Abry Partners exited; management retains majority). Cerity Partners (NY/Chicago) was recapitalized by Genstar Capital in June 2022 with Lightyear Capital still in since 2017. Allworth Financial (Sacramento) was acquired from Parthenon Capital by Lightyear Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan in Q4 2020. Creative Planning (Leawood, Kansas; Peter Mallouk majority) took General Atlantic minority in 2020 and added TPG Capital minority in September 2024 — there is NO GIC or CPP IB stake despite that common misattribution. Pathstone (Englewood, New Jersey) has Lovell Minnick (in since 2019, re-upped 2023) and Kelso & Company (added May 2023) as co-minority investors; Pathstone acquired Hall Capital ($45B AUA) in October 2024 and crossed $125B AUA combined. Edelman Financial Engines (Sunnyvale / Boston / Reston) has had Hellman & Friedman as majority owner since October 2015 with Warburg Pincus re-investing in 2021. Carson Group (Omaha) has Bain Capital as a minority (29%) since July 2021 at a $1B valuation; Ron Carson stepped down as CEO 2024 but remains involved. Lido Advisors (LA) was acquired in 2025 by HPS Investment Partners (NOT Carlyle), with Charlesbank Capital Partners (in since 2021) retaining a stake; HPS itself was acquired by BlackRock on July 1, 2025, so Lido is now under the BlackRock umbrella at $30B AUM. Snowden Lane Partners (NY) redeemed most of Estancia Capital’s majority stake in January 2025 with Estancia retaining roughly one-third, at $11.7B AUM. NewEdge Wealth / NewEdge Advisors (Pittsburgh) is owned by EdgeCo Holdings, backed by Parthenon Capital and Waterfall Asset Management, at $60B+ in NewEdge alone and $610B serviced assets at the EdgeCo platform level. EP Wealth Advisors (Torrance, California) has Berkshire Partners minority since 2020 and added Ares Management minority in September 2025, at $40B AUM. Savant Wealth Management (Rockford, Illinois) is employee-majority-owned with Cynosure Group minority since 2016 and Kelso & Company minority since 2021; closed the $3.9B Heritage Financial acquisition in 2024. Steward Partners (Washington DC, hybrid B-D/RIA) took Cynosure $50M in 2019, The Pritzker Organization $100M in 2021, and Ares Management $475M of strategic capital in 2024-25, with $35B AUM and reportedly exploring sale. Modern Wealth Management (Sunnyvale, California) was launched April 2023 by United Capital co-founders Gary Roth, Mike Capelle and Jason Gordo with $200M from Crestview Partners (Edmund Hajim is NOT involved), passing $10B AUM and 16+ acquisitions in its first two years. Corient is the US RIA arm of CI Financial, which was taken private November 2024 by Mubadala Capital at C$12.1B (closed 2025); Corient holds $185B AUM and is accelerating its planned US IPO post-Mubadala close. Wealthspire Advisors (NY) was acquired by Madison Dearborn from Aon for $2.7B in 2025 (along with Fiducient and Newport, totaling roughly $580B AUM) — Wealthspire is NO LONGER an Aon/NFP company. Sequoia Financial Group (Akron, Ohio) has Valeas Capital Partners minority since October 2022 ($200M+ committed) with follow-on 2024, at $27B AUM, after partnering with Eide Bailly wealth in 2024. Homrich Berg / HB Wealth (Atlanta) has New Mountain Capital minority since 2021 and TPG Growth minority since September 2024, at $25B+ AUM. Robert W. Baird & Co. (Milwaukee) is the largest non-PE-backed full-service hybrid at $330B+ private wealth assets, employee-owned, and often the in-network buyer of choice for advisors who explicitly want to stay independent of PE.

RIA sub-verticals and how each is valued

Not every wealth management firm trades the same way. The four sub-verticals an acquirer underwrites differently are fee-only RIAs, hybrid RIA / broker-dealer shops, multi-family offices, and OCIO / institutional / retirement-plan combos — with wealth-plus-tax-prep CPA-led firms as an emerging fifth category. Fee-only RIAs are the cleanest, highest-multiple bucket: 100% AUM-fee revenue, no commission product, no broker-dealer affiliation, fiduciary at all times, custody with Schwab/Fidelity/Pershing. Median 2024 platform deals trade 10x-14x EBITDA at $1B+ AUM. Hybrid RIA / B-D shops (dual-registered firms with advisory plus brokerage through an affiliate like LPL, Cetera, Commonwealth, Osaic or a captive) trade lower — typically 6x-9x EBITDA on the advisory revenue, with the commission stream valued separately at 2x-4x trailing-12 GDC — because the buyer inherits FINRA supervisory liability, Regulation Best Interest compliance, and product-shelf complexity. Steward Partners is the largest hybrid aggregator. Multi-Family Offices (concentrated UHNW books with $25M+ household average, layered with trust, tax, estate, bill-pay, concierge and direct investing) pay the highest multiples: Pathstone (after Hall Capital), Cerity Partners, Mercer Advisors’ UHNW segment, Cresset and Pitcairn have transacted in the high-teens to 20x EBITDA, with family-office bidders increasingly out-bidding PE aggregators on these. OCIO / institutional / retirement-plan combos (the Captrust archetype, with sticky institutional contracts and lower per-dollar fee but very high persistence) trade at a slight discount to pure HNW on revenue multiple but a premium on EBITDA multiple because margins are wider. Captrust is the platform; Sequoia Financial, Fiducient, and parts of NewEdge play here too. Wealth plus tax-prep / accounting hybrids (CPA-led RIAs and Bessemer-style integrated families with a $200M-$1B advisory unit inside a CPA firm) are currently the most competitively bid segment because the cross-sell economics (tax return into wealth review into planning) are unparalleled — Sequoia Financial plus Eide Bailly 2024 is the prototype.

New Hampshire RIA market context

New Hampshire is shaped by the same federal Investment Advisers Act of 1940 framework that governs every U.S. RIA above the $100M RAUM threshold and the same state-level patchwork below it. Every state requires its own Notice Filing for SEC-registered firms with in-state clients plus state-level registration for firms under the federal threshold. State-specific items every seller should pin down before LOI include state non-compete enforceability (which has shifted sharply in California, Minnesota, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Illinois since 2023), state-tax treatment of cash versus equity rollover consideration, whether the firm has Notice Filings current in every state where it has at least the de minimis client threshold (typically five clients), and whether any state IAR registrations are due for renewal in the 12 months around close. Every selling principal should also verify that their custodian (Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, LPL Strategic Wealth or Goldman Custody Solutions) is approved as a custodian for the buyer platform — custodian mismatch is the number-one cause of close delays after client-consent timing. The 40+ active PE-backed aggregator buyers acquire across all 50 states under the same federal framework, with regional concentration of deal flow tracking HNW density and advisor demographics rather than state-specific regulatory texture.

SEC and state Investment Adviser regulatory framework for a New Hampshire RIA sale

The regulatory architecture under a wealth-management M&A transaction is governed primarily by the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and the state-level patchwork of investment-adviser statutes that mirror it. Federal vs. state line: under Dodd-Frank, an RIA managing $100M or more in regulatory assets under management (RAUM) generally must register with the SEC, and below $100M an RIA generally registers with each state in which it operates and meets that state’s de minimis client threshold. An RIA required to register in 15+ states may elect SEC registration regardless of AUM (the multi-state exemption). In 2024 the SEC tightened the Internet Adviser Exemption, ending the loophole that let small advisers federally register based on a website. Every registered adviser files Form ADV Part 1 (firm info, disciplinary, ownership), Part 2A (firm brochure), Part 2B (brochure supplement for each advisor), and Part 3 / Form CRS (Client Relationship Summary for retail clients); a change of control triggers an other-than-annual amendment within 30 days of any material event. Under Section 202(a)(1A) of the Advisers Act, an assignment of an advisory contract includes any direct or indirect transfer of the contract OR a transfer of a controlling block of the assignor’s voting securities; Section 205(a)(2) bars assignment of an advisory contract without client consent. In practice, SEC staff guidance has endorsed negative consent — written notice to the client at least 45-60 days before close, with no response treated as consent — for routine PE recaps; high-friction situations (institutional clients, ERISA plans, foundations) often require affirmative positive consent. The SEC has not numerically defined controlling block, which is why most PE deals are structured to assume that any majority transfer triggers consent. FINRA is NOT the RIA regulator — FINRA regulates broker-dealers, not investment advisers. This matters most for hybrid B-D/RIA shops: a change of control on the B-D side triggers FINRA continuing-membership-application (CMA) review under NASD Rule 1017, which can take 30-180 days and is independent of the SEC’s ADV process. Schwab, Fidelity (Institutional), Pershing Advisor Solutions, LPL Strategic Wealth and Goldman Custody Solutions are the dominant RIA custodians; each runs its own change-of-control review when a custody-using RIA is acquired with standard 30-60 day turnaround, but can require new custody agreements, new authorized-signer paperwork and re-papering of alternative-asset positions. Plan for 60-90 days of operational re-papering even if the SEC side closes cleanly. Individual investment-adviser representatives (IARs) must hold Series 65 alone, or Series 7 + 66 combined, with state waivers for CFA, CFP, ChFC, PFS, or CIC holders in some states.

How this applies to a New Hampshire RIA sale

A New Hampshire RIA sale to a PE-backed aggregator triggers four sequential regulatory workflows that gate close. First, the SEC Form ADV other-than-annual amendment must be filed within 30 days of any material event (including the change-of-control), and the buyer’s platform-level ADV updates concurrently. Second, client consent under Section 205 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 must be obtained for each advisory contract — the SEC staff has endorsed negative consent (45-60 day written notice with no response treated as consent) for routine PE recaps, but ERISA plans, institutional accounts, and foundations typically require affirmative positive consent. Third, the firm’s custodians (Schwab, Fidelity Institutional, Pershing Advisor Solutions, LPL Strategic Wealth, Goldman Custody Solutions) each run a change-of-control review that takes 30-60 days and may require new custody agreements and re-papering of alternative-asset positions. Fourth, if the firm is hybrid B-D / RIA, FINRA must review the broker-dealer change of control via a Continuing Membership Application (CMA) under NASD Rule 1017, which can take 30-180 days independent of the SEC process. For a New Hampshire seller, plan for 90-150 days LOI to close with the client-consent window as the binding constraint.

Deal mechanics specific to New Hampshire RIA sales

RIA deals are unusually long-tail compared to other small-business M&A because so much of the value transfers across the client-consent window and the multi-year earnout. Letter of intent to close is typically 90-150 days, with the gating items being SEC ADV amendment, client-consent notices (45-day negative-consent window), custodian re-papering and PE investment-committee final approval. Earnout structure typically defers 40%-60% of total consideration with a two-year measurement window and the trigger being trailing-12 fee revenue at month 24 compared to baseline, explicitly market-adjusted so the seller is not penalized for a market drawdown they did not cause, plus growth kickers on top. Equity rollover is typically 20%-40% of seller proceeds into platform equity, with founder sellers below 50 typically taking the larger rollover to capture the next recap and older sellers minimizing rollover but accepting structured liquidity over 3-5 years. Advisor non-competes are enforceable in most states with reasonable scope and duration (1-2 years, customer-list-based not territorial), but several states sharply limit them: California (SB 699 + AB 1076 effective 2024 made non-competes essentially void and created a private right of action against employers who try to enforce them), North Dakota, Oklahoma and Minnesota (post-2023 statute). Even in these states, client non-solicits are usually enforceable if narrowly drafted; trade-secret protection of the client list is the durable backstop. Tuck-in deals typically convert selling advisors to W-2 employees of the buyer platform with 3-5 year producing-employment-agreements, while platform deals (>$1B AUM seller) tend to preserve partner-class economics with the principal becoming a unit holder in the platform LLC. The Broker Protocol, created in 2004 by Merrill Lynch, UBS PaineWebber and Smith Barney, allows departing advisors to take limited client information (name, address, phone, email, account title) without violating trade-secret claims, provided both source and destination firms are Protocol members — Morgan Stanley exited the Protocol in October 2017, UBS exited the next month, and Merrill Lynch remains a member as of mid-2026 with ~2,500 member firms total. For an RIA seller bringing advisors from a wirehouse, Protocol status of the source firm is a critical pre-close diligence item. M&A insurance is now standard in deals over $50M EV, with reps-and-warranties policies typically costing 2.5%-3.5% of the policy limit and replacing most of the traditional indemnity escrow.

The advisor-succession crisis — why New Hampshire principals are selling now

The structural demand-side fuel under the 2024-2026 RIA M&A boom is the advisor-demographics cliff. Cerulli Associates’ U.S. Advisor Metrics 2024 report calculates that 109,000 financial advisors — 37.4% of total industry headcount, controlling 41.4% of industry client assets — are scheduled to retire within ten years (by 2034). Roughly 26% of those near-retirement advisors have no documented succession plan, and bank-channel advisors are leaving even earlier (average retirement age 64 vs. 68 industry-wide) with the worst succession-planning rate (~29% with no plan). Internal succession at small and mid-size RIAs has historically been difficult: next-generation advisors rarely have the personal capital to buy out a founder at fair-market multiples, internal sale notes carry credit risk, and the founder-employee asymmetry on price expectations is brutal. The result is that the dominant succession path in 2024-2026 is external sale to a PE-backed aggregator that provides cash up front, equity rollover for advisors who want to stay, and an institutional platform to absorb the back office. Cerulli’s 2024 data shows only 27% of retiring advisors plan to hand the book to another advisor within their existing practice. This is the single biggest reason DeVoe and Echelon have set consecutive annual deal records: 2024 saw 272 deals (DeVoe) / 366 deals (Echelon); 2025 hit 322 (DeVoe) / 466 (Echelon, +27.3% YoY); and Q1 2026 alone matched Q3 2025 at 93 deals (DeVoe), tying the all-time quarterly record. Average seller AUM rebounded to roughly $1B in 2024 from $819M-$827M in 2022-23; average deal AUM hit $1.2B by early 2026.

Why a New Hampshire RIA sale needs vertical-specific advice

National advisors who treat a wealth management firm as a generic professional services business will miss the levers that materially move price. The AUM-tier multiple framework; the fee-only vs hybrid-B-D revenue split and how each is underwritten separately; the AUM-retention earnout structure with explicit market-movement carve-outs; the Section 205 client-consent procedure and negative-consent 45-day window; the custodian change-of-control re-papering at Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, LPL or Goldman; state-specific advisor non-compete enforceability (which voided California non-competes via SB 699 + AB 1076 in 2024 and sharply limited Minnesota, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Illinois enforcement since 2023); FINRA CMA review under NASD Rule 1017 for any hybrid B-D component; and the Broker Protocol membership status of any wirehouse feeder relationships are all RIA-specific diligence items. A New Hampshire seller advised by someone who understands the 466-deal 2025 Echelon record, the 89% PE-backed buyer share, the second-bite equity-rollover economics, and the 24-month AUM-retention earnout math negotiates as an equal — not as someone being educated by the buyer’s diligence team at their own expense.

The 18-24 month pre-sale playbook for New Hampshire RIAs

Owners who reach the top of the multiple range almost always prepared deliberately. With 12-24 months of runway, prioritize:

• Push fee-only revenue mix toward 100%. Convert remaining commission and trailing-trail revenue to AUM-fee arrangements where the client will accept it. Pure fee-only books trade two to three turns higher than hybrid B-D books with similar AUM.
• Document AUM retention rigorously. The 24-month AUM-retention earnout benchmark is 95% (per Sica Fletcher), and buyers underwrite from the document trail. Pull three-year retention by household, by advisor, by custodian, by segment.
• Reduce advisor concentration. Get top-producer share below 30%. An RIA where the founder controls 60% of revenue is a key-person-risk discount; an RIA with three to five producing partners and a credentialed next-generation bench commands the platform multiple.
• Demonstrate organic AUM growth. Hit 5%-10% organic growth (excluding market) for three consecutive years. Growth kickers on the earnout unlock at this rate, and platforms underwrite organic growth as the primary measure of franchise quality.
• Clean up Form ADV and CRS. Disciplinary disclosures, marketing-rule testimonial issues, and ADV-3 (Form CRS) accuracy are deal-killers in diligence. Pre-sale ADV review with securities counsel pays for itself.
• Run a custodian compatibility check. Verify Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, LPL or Goldman is approved by the buyer platforms you would actually transact with. Custodian mismatch is the number-one cause of close delays after client-consent timing.
• Review Broker Protocol exposure. If you have advisors who came from a wirehouse, confirm the source firm’s Protocol status — Morgan Stanley and UBS exited in 2017, Merrill remains a member. This affects what client information your advisors can defensibly hold.
• Review state non-compete enforceability. California (SB 699 + AB 1076), Minnesota (2023 statute), Washington (HB 1450), Colorado, Virginia and Illinois have all shifted sharply since 2023. Update advisor agreements pre-sale to favor client non-solicits and trade-secret protection where non-competes are now void.

For the broader framework, see our complete guide to selling an RIA, our investment manager due-diligence checklist, and the lower middle market buyer mandate report.

Common mistakes New Hampshire RIA owners make when selling

• Selling a hybrid book without separating the advisory and commission streams. Each is underwritten at a different multiple; combining them into a single headline number costs the seller two to three turns.
• Anchoring on AUM rather than revenue, EBITDA, organic growth, and advisor retention. AUM is a vanity metric — buyers price the recurring fee book and what survives the 24-month earnout.
• Underestimating equity rollover economics. Cash-only sellers leave the second-bite multiple expansion entirely on the table. The largest historical RIA-principal payouts have come from the next platform recap, not the original sale.
• Failing to model the AUM-retention earnout carefully. A 95% retention threshold at month 24 can fall through on a single departing partner or a 2008-style market drawdown without market-movement carve-outs. Push for explicit market adjustment and attribution rules.
• Ignoring Section 205 client-consent timing. The 45-day negative-consent window is the binding constraint on close; structuring an LOI that doesn’t respect it costs months of delay and frustrated client communication.
• Carrying overbroad advisor non-competes into a sale in California, Minnesota, Washington, Colorado, Virginia or Illinois where they are now void or sharply limited. Buyers discount for un-enforceable retention covenants.
• Hiding custodian or Broker Protocol exposure. Wirehouse-sourced advisors with restrictive non-Protocol obligations from the source firm crater post-close advisor mobility — surface this in diligence, not after.
• Taking the first inbound offer from a single PE-backed aggregator rather than running a competitive process across the 40+ active platforms. Confidential competitive bidding consistently lifts terms by 15-30%.

Sell Your RIA: New Hampshire and beyond

Companion guides:

• Sell Your RIA / Wealth Management Firm (national overview)
• Selling an RIA or Wealth Management Firm in 2026: Multiples, Named Aggregators
• Best Wealth Managers for Business Owners Post-Exit (2026)
• Investment Manager Due Diligence Checklist (2026)
• The lower middle market buyer mandate report
• Exit multiple: the 2026 operator’s guide

New Hampshire RIA sale: 2026 outlook and key takeaways

RIA M&A is in the deepest seller’s market in industry history, with a record 466 Echelon-tracked deals in 2025 (+27% YoY), 89% PE-backed buyer share per Fidelity, 40+ active aggregator platforms, and the advisor-succession cliff (109,000 advisors retiring by 2034 per Cerulli) providing structural seller volume through 2030. A New Hampshire RIA with a fee-only book above 80% of revenue, three-year organic AUM growth above 5%, 95%+ trailing AUM retention, advisor concentration below 30% on the top producer, clean Form ADV history, current CRS, and enforceable client non-solicits can realistically reach the upper end of its AUM-tier valuation band — with $1B-$3B firms reaching 12-14x EBITDA. The issues that most often cost sellers money are hybrid B-D underwriting, neglected equity rollover, under-modeled AUM-retention earnouts, overbroad non-competes in newly restrictive states, and accepting the first inbound platform offer rather than running a confidential process across the full 40+ aggregator universe.

This guide reflects 2026 RIA M&A market conditions and CT Acquisitions’ direct work with active acquirers. Multiples are directional, not a guarantee; every firm is underwritten on its own AUM mix, fee structure, organic growth, advisor concentration, custodian relationships, and compliance posture. SEC and state Investment Adviser registration rules, advisory contract assignment under Section 205 of the Advisers Act, Broker Protocol status, state non-compete enforceability (which has shifted sharply in California, Minnesota, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Illinois since 2023), and the AICPA APS Exposure Draft (for CPA-led wealth combos) are in active transition — confirm current requirements with qualified securities counsel before relying on them in a transaction.

New Hampshire RIA sale: frequently asked questions