2026 Research Report
The Succession Crisis Facing
Independent Financial Advisors
An analysis of 8,427 SEC and state-registered advisory firms reveals the scale of an industry-wide transition challenge — and the opportunity it creates for growth-oriented practices.
are solo practices
succession risk signals
established RIA firms
in New York metro alone
Finding 01
New York leads the nation in succession risk — by a wide margin
Firms with 20+ years of operation and two or fewer adviser representatives — the profile most likely to face an unplanned transition — are concentrated in the largest metro markets. New York alone accounts for 209 succession-risk firms, nearly five times the next closest market.
Finding 02
63% of registered advisory firms have exactly one adviser
The independent advisory industry is dominated by solo practitioners. Of the 8,427 active registered firms, 5,289 (63%) have exactly one investment adviser representative. This concentration of one-person firms creates both a succession challenge and an acquisition opportunity at scale.
Finding 03
Where acquisition-ready practices are concentrated
Practices with $5M–$75M in disclosed regulatory AUM represent the optimal acquisition target for growth-oriented advisors — large enough to be meaningful, small enough to be approachable. 229 firms in this range have disclosed AUM within the dataset. Note: ERA state-registered firms are not required to disclose AUM, so the actual acquisition-ready universe is significantly larger.
Finding 04
AUM distribution: how the industry is sized
The majority of registered advisory firms in this dataset manage over $150M in assets — a reflection that the SEC-registered universe skews toward mid-to-large practices. The $25M–$150M band contains the densest concentration of practices at the inflection point between boutique and institutional scale.
Finding 05
New RIA formation has accelerated since 2018
The number of new independent RIA registrations reflects the ongoing breakaway advisor trend — experienced advisors leaving wirehouses and broker-dealers to establish independent practices. Each new registrant represents a practice at the infrastructure formation stage — actively building their technology stack.
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