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22 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | MAY 5, 2025 Chuck Failla is the president of the Financial Planning Association Connecticut chapter, and a principal with Stamford-based Sovereign Financial Group. HBJ PHOTO | MICHAEL JULIANO Growing The Nest Egg Wealth management industry consolidation is 'happening at breakneck speed,' experts say to combine those," Failla said. Or, a small firm may join a consol- idator, which is a much larger company that buys up smaller wealth management firms, he said. "That's just the reality of it," Failla said. "I can tell you that there'll be fewer firms in five or 10 years than there are today because this consolidation is just happening at a breakneck speed. It's happening very quickly." Failla said the trend is further propelled by registered investment advisers (RIAs) and certified financial planners who are nearing retirement, but have no succession plans. "Let's say you wake up, you're 70 years old, and you didn't do (a succession plan)," he said. "Well, you gotta do something because some- one's got to take care of your clients." He said consolidation in wealth management is the most discussed topic on podcast interviews he has with small wealth management firms on the industry-focused website www.goRIA.com. "M&A is almost always one of the hottest topics that we have to talk about because it's so prevalent," he said. Succession planning Last year, there were 269 merg- er-and-acquisition deals involving registered investment adviser sellers with over $100 million in assets under management, according to New York- based Berkshire Global Advisors. "This was the most ever and repre- sented a 0.4% increase from 2023," the firm said in a report. The significant upswing in consoli- dation has been driven by succession By Michael Juliano mjuliano@hartfordbusiness.com T h e wealth management industry has been consoli- dating for the past decade, but the pace of merger activity has picked up markedly in recent years as smaller firms look to grow or sell their businesses, experts say. The dealmaking has been partic- ularly active in Connecticut over the past six months. • In April, three deals were announced: Investment adviser RiskBridge Advisors LLC in Norwalk bought Eugene, Oregon- based private wealth management firm Finley Davis Financial Group for an undisclosed sum. • Connecticut wealth management and investment firm Bradley, Foster & Sargent merged with Rhode Island- and Massachusetts-based Napatree Capital, combining under the BFS name. • Westport-based registered investment adviser Procyon Partners sold a minority stake to Chicago-based private equity firm Constellation Wealth Capital LLC. • In March, West Hartford-based financial advisory firm Apella Wealth bought Marrella Private Wealth, a Pennsylvania-based investment adviser. • GYL Financial Synergies, a West Hartford financial advisory firm with $6.6 billion in assets under management, in November merged with The Colony Group LLC of Boston. • In September, Mercer Global Advi- sors Inc., a Denver-based national registered investment adviser, acquired Benchmark Wealth Management LLC of Old Lyme. There are about 13,000 registered investment advisers across the nation, making the industry "ripe for consolidation," said Chuck Failla, president of the Connecticut chapter of the Financial Planning Association and a principal with Stamford-based Sovereign Financial Group. "If you have my firm and another firm and another firm all within five miles of each other, and all of us have a compliance office, a trading desk and a support team, it makes sense * The deals in the U.S. included registered investment advisors with over $100 million in assets under management. | Source: Berkshire Global Advisors 2024 Wealth Management M&A Report Wealth management M&A activity TOTAL NO. OF DEALS* 150 200 250 300 2020 2021 2022 2020 2023