Executive Talent Intelligence Brief ™ · Wealth management edition
Wealth management executive hiring, September 2026
U.S. executive hiring intelligence for RIAs, family offices, multi-family offices, trust and estate businesses, and wealth platforms
How to read this brief. Public data is quoted or calculated from a named source, and every source is in the register at the end. The posted-pay sample is a convenience sample of employer job postings, and it describes those roles only. Interpretation sits apart from the data, in indented blocks, and every block carries a label. Our assessment is a judgment drawn from the evidence beside it. Our hypothesis is a statement about hiring sequence, timing or how firms organize that we haven't measured, and it says what would support it.
1. Executive market snapshot
A record first half for RIA deals, and fewer registered advisors to recruit from
Echelon Partners counted 120 RIA transactions in Q2, the most active second quarter on record, with private-equity-backed acquirers completing 91 of them. Cerulli reported on August 4 that 35% of financial advisors, managing 40% of industry assets, plan to retire within 10 years, and more than a quarter are uncertain about their succession plans.
4 numbers that matter
| Market signal | Latest reading |
|---|---|
| RIA transactions, Q2 2026 (Echelon) | 120 |
| PE-backed share of those deals | 75.8% |
| Advisors planning to retire within 10 years | 35% |
| Producing advisors, net change in 2025 (AdvizorPro, SEC and FINRA registration data) | -4,000 |
Sources: Echelon Partners RIA M&A Deal Report, Q2 2026, published July 28, 2026. Cerulli Associates, August 4, 2026. AdvizorPro, 2025 data, published April 2026.
Our assessment: executive talent temperature, hot. We set it on the 4 readings above.
Our hypothesis. Record second-quarter deal volume may move integration leadership ahead of growth leadership. Sponsor-owned platforms tend to hire to a sponsor's finance and reporting standard. Each retirement needs a successor, a buyer or both, and a successor can mean a leadership search. After a closing, an early leadership question for the buyer is who makes the acquisition work.
Our assessment. Firms hiring producing advisors draw on a smaller registered population.
Securities, commodity contracts, funds, trusts and other financial investments employment reached 1,174,400 in August 2026, against 1,143,900 a year earlier. That's a 12-month gain of 30,500, calculated from BLS Current Employment Statistics levels(NAICS 523 and 525, seasonally adjusted, August 2026 preliminary, released September 4). The series covers the whole securities, investment, funds and trusts industry, which is broader than wealth management.
Functions to watch
Our assessment. Integration and operations leadership, the role that makes acquired firms run on one compliance program and one data model. Finance under a sponsor, built for a PE owner's reporting cadence. Trust and fiduciary leadership, where few people have run a trust company. And compliance at firms that outgrew their compliance function.
2. The advisor market, measured 3 ways
These measures come from separate datasets that count different populations. Read each on its own terms.
Household wealth. The Federal Reserve put household and nonprofit net worth at $195.9 trillion at the end of Q2 2026, up $12.8 trillion in the quarter ( Z.1 Financial Accounts, released September 11, 2026). Capgemini's World Wealth Report, published June 4, counted 8.7 million U.S. high-net-worth individuals in 2025, up 9.2%. Capgemini counts investable assets of $1 million or more, excluding a primary residence.
SEC-registered firms. The Investment Adviser Association and COMPLY counted 16,544 SEC-registered advisers managing $176.8 trillion, up 22.3%, with 73.7 million clients and 1.1 million non-clerical employees, both up ( Investment Adviser Industry Snapshot, June 3, 2026, 2025 data). By size, 92.8% have 100 or fewer employees and 67.4% manage under $1 billion.
Producing advisors. AdvizorPro counts producing financial advisors from SEC and FINRA registration data. On that count, more than 57,000 advisors exited in 2025 against fewer than 53,000 entrants, a net loss it puts at 4,000, with net losses in 4 of the last 5 years.
AdvizorPro's channel figures are a separate count, tracking advisors moving between channels by registration. On those, broker-dealers posted a net loss of about 4,000 advisors to other channels in 2025 and the RIA channel a net gain of more than 17,000. A move between channels leaves the total unchanged.
The IAA's employment figure covers non-clerical staff at SEC-registered firms, and AdvizorPro's covers registered producing advisors. Neither measures total wealth management employment, so the 2 can move in different directions.
Executive hiring implication
One large independent broker-dealer network lost its head of business development in June and, in August, the senior vice president of sales who led its recruiting organization (source register 39 and 40).
Our hypothesis. Where 2 in 3 firms manage under $1 billion and 9 in 10 have 100 or fewer people, a senior hire can change what a firm is. That may be one reason senior hiring in this market tends to follow deals.
Our hypothesis. A falling count of producing advisors raises the stakes on whoever runs advisor recruiting, which argues for securing that leader before budgeting for the advisors.
3. RIA M&A: a record half, concentrated buyers, flat price expectations
Echelon Partners recorded 120 RIA transactions in Q2, the most active second quarter on record and 17.6% above the 102 announced in Q2 2025, on $378 billion of transacted assets. That's below Q1's all-time record of 142, and it took the first half to 262, the most active first half on record. Median target AUM was $733 million.
DeVoe & Company recorded 74 in the quarter and 167 in the half, 13% above its previous first-half high. The 2 trackers count differently and differ by 95 deals for the half, so we report each on its own.
On buyer mix, Echelon's count shows PE-backed acquirers completing 91 of 120 deals, or 75.8%, an all-time high, and 24 repeat buyers accounted for 62.5% of quarterly volume. Buyers with 2 or fewer prior acquisitions accounted for 13 deals, down from 37 in Q1. DeVoe put consolidators at 50% of first-half transactions, with RIA buyers making a record 52 acquisitions. These are the trackers' published figures. We haven't audited the underlying deal lists.
In DeVoe's consolidator survey, fielded in May and published in July without a sample size, 82% expect valuations to hold flat over the next 6 months, 18% expect declines and none expect increases, against 8% who expected increases a year earlier. WealthManagement.com's report of the survey says multiples north of 20 times typically go to firms managing tens or hundreds of billions.
Our assessment. Buyer valuation expectations appear to have plateaued. The survey measures what buyers expect, and prices paid may move differently.
Executive hiring implication
Our assessment. Repeat buyers doing 62.5% of volume puts a capacity question to a platform closing several deals a year: who makes acquired firms run on one compliance program and one data model? Deal announcements measure volume, and whether a seat opens is each firm's decision.
Our hypothesis. The roles that answer that question may include an integration COO, a CCO with multi-entity Form ADV depth and a head of data engineering. Section 11 says what would support it.
4. Trust, estate and fiduciary talent
In this window, non-bank firms hired trust leadership built inside banks, and one bought a trust company.
In August a private-equity-owned trust company elevated its executive chair to president and chief executive. The new chief executive previously ran a bank-owned trust business. In the same week, a multi-state trust company named a president who had led a regional bank's institutional and personal trust businesses.
In June an RIA's affiliate acquired a Pennsylvania-chartered trust company of about $3 billion, the RIA's 34th transaction since 2021.
Executive hiring implication
Two trust company leadership appointments came in one week, both going to leaders who previously ran bank trust businesses, and a trust company was acquired (source register 31 and 41).
Our assessment. Few people have run a trust company.
Our hypothesis. Firms that need this capability may be choosing between a scarce hire and an acquisition. One firm in this window bought a trust company.
5. Tax professionals serving HNW and UHNW clients
| Signal | Reading |
|---|---|
| 2026 estate basic exclusion | $15,000,000, up from $13,990,000 |
| Accounting degrees, 2023 to 2024 academic year | 55,152, down 6.6% |
| Private capital allocated by advisors | $2.2T, with $2T more forecast over 5 years |
| North American single family offices | 3,180, with the global count projected to grow 33% by 2030 |
| IRS examination coverage, individual returns, tax year 2021 | 6.6% at $10M+ in total positive income, 0.9% at $1M to $5M |
For tax year 2021, the examination coverage rate for individual returns reporting $10 million or more in total positive income was 6.6%, versus 0.9% for $1 million to $5 million.
Sources in order: IRS IR-2025-103, 9 Oct 2025; AICPA 2025 Trends, 27 Oct 2025; Cerulli, U.S. Private Markets 2026, 30 Jul 2026; Deloitte Private, Defining the Family Office Landscape, 2024 edition; IRS Data Book Table 3-1, tax year 2021, the most recent year outside the statute of limitations.
Our assessment. Tax work for wealthy households is getting more complex, and the pipeline into the profession is contracting. A new exclusion sends UHNW estate plans back for review. Private fund holdings add partnership reporting to the household tax workload, and a growing family office count widens the client base.
What these roles pay
Ranges employers published in their own job postings, read September 2 and re-checked live on September 28, 2026. This is part of the convenience sample described in section 6, and each row describes one posting. Every row also appears in the posted-pay register at the end.
| Role | Employer type | Market | Posted range | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Tax Manager, International | Single family office | Stamford metro CT | $400,000 to $475,000 | Total cash |
| Senior Tax Manager, Trust | Single family office | Stamford metro CT | $175,000 to $305,000 | Total cash |
| Senior Tax Manager | RIA above $15 billion | New York metro NJ | $160,000 to $190,000 | Unstated |
| Tax Manager | National RIA aggregator | San Francisco Bay Area CA | $130,000 to $180,000 | Base |
| Tax Manager | Multi-family office | San Diego CA | $121,900 to $172,500 | Unstated |
| Tax Manager | National RIA aggregator | Phoenix metro AZ | $82,800 to $157,200 | Unstated |
| Tax Manager, Northeast | National RIA aggregator | Remote, Northeast band | $106,000 to $135,000 | Base |
One family office's posting is the outlier. A single family office posted $400,000 to $475,000 in total cash for a senior tax manager covering international work. The other 5 are tax manager and senior tax manager postings at RIAs, aggregators and a multi-family office. Their posted ranges run from $82,800 to $190,000, 2 stated as base salary and 3 with the basis unstated.
The figures sit on different bases and describe different jobs. It's one family office's posting, so it describes that role and stops short of a market rate.
Our assessment. Entity complexity may be what separates them.
What our search didn't find. Neither research pass found a Head of Tax, Chief Fiduciary Officer or Director of Trust Services posting with a published range at the employers it searched. That describes our search, and the leadership tier of this function may be advertised where we didn't look, or not at all.
Executive hiring implication
Our hypothesis. Tax may be becoming a leadership seat at firms serving UHNW families, as the work grows more complex while the credentialed pipeline shrinks.
Our assessment. A firm that waits for the next filing season to hire would be recruiting in the busiest months of the tax year.
6. What wealth management employers are posting
This is a convenience sample. It holds the pay ranges 2 research passes could read on employer boards on September 2, 2026, re-checked on September 28. It describes those roles. Read it as a record of what these employers advertised, with no claim to represent the market.
Ranges cluster in the states and cities that require disclosure, because that's where the law reaches, and some come from places that don't, such as the Arizona tax manager posting in section 5. Figures appear as the employer posted them, written out in full.
30 ranges from 29 postings at 16 employers, every one live on September 28 with the same figure we recorded on September 2. One posting publishes 2 seniority tiers, so it counts once as a posting and twice as a range. The collection held 48 senior-tier ranges, and the methodology explains why 18 are out. The 7 tax ranges are in section 5.
By function: investment and advisory 17, tax 7, operations 3, legal 2, risk 1. Of the 30, 19 are stated as base salary, 2 as total cash and 9 carry no stated basis. Stated base ranges run from $97,750 to $300,000.
The senior end of the sample
| Role | Employer type | Market | Posted range | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Wealth Advisor | National RIA aggregator | New York NY and Reno NV | $150,000 to $350,000 | Unstated |
| Regional Managing Director, Wealth Advisory | Multi-family office | Chicago IL and New York NY | $250,000 to $300,000 | Base |
| Head of Managed Accounts, SVP | Alternatives investment platform | Stamford metro CT and New York NY | $210,000 to $260,000 | Base |
| Risk Manager, structured products | Single family office | New York NY | $200,000 to $250,000 | Base |
| Regional Managing Director, Client Service | Multi-family office | New York NY, Atlanta GA, Reston VA | $175,000 to $250,000 | Base |
| Wealth Manager | National RIA aggregator | Seattle WA | $150,000 to $250,000 | Base |
| Portfolio Manager, VP | Alternatives investment platform | New York NY | $160,000 to $220,000 | Base |
Also in the sample: a senior associate legal counsel at a multi-family office in San Francisco at $180,000 to $210,000, basis unstated, and a portfolio manager at an RIA in Seattle at $115,000 to $200,000 base.
One posting sits outside the tables. A tech-enabled RIA advertised a principal wealth advisor role at $200,000 to $1,000,000 and above, basis unstated, and the posting asks for an existing, transferable book of business. Its ceiling is 5 times its floor, so it stays out of the band tables.
What the sample didn't contain. None of the 30 ranges is for a chief financial, operating, investment or compliance officer, or for a head of data. That describes the employers we searched on September 2. The senior compliance postings in that collection, including one for a chief compliance officer, had all closed by September 28, so compliance pay is absent from this edition. So is trust officer pay, for the same reason. No independent broker-dealer in our search published a range. Disclosure also doesn't reach Florida, Texas and Oklahoma, the Carolinas, the Southeast or much of the Ohio Valley, and we'll name that gap every quarter.
Our assessment. The seats section 3 asks about sit above anything in this sample. A posted-range table can open a leadership compensation conversation, and the seat still needs pricing on its own terms.
For occupational context, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates released May 15, 2026: personal financial advisors average $156,670 and financial managers $186,910. Both sit below the midpoint of every range in the senior table, because OEWS measures whole occupations across the economy rather than the executive tier.
How to read the posted ranges
These are advertised ranges. A posted $175,000 to $250,000 tells you the employer has room. Where an offer lands inside it depends on the candidate and the negotiation.
Bonus or equity may add to base where the posting provides for it. 20 of the 30 ranges come with posting language on bonus, incentive or equity pay, and 2 more describe added pay for advisors who bring clients. The postings don't say how much.
Some employers post one band across markets. An aggregator posted the same $150,000 to $350,000 in New York and in Reno. A multi-family office posted one $250,000 to $300,000 range across Chicago and New York. A posted range describes one firm's band for one role, wherever the role sits.
7 ranges widen past 60% floor to ceiling. 4 are advisor ranges, 1 is a portfolio manager and 2 are tax roles. Only the principal wealth advisor posting ties pay to a book. The 2 postings that offer added pay for advisors who bring clients carry base ranges 17% and 20% wide. For the other wide ranges, the postings give no reason.
Ownership economics
Our assessment. Base and bonus may underdescribe a managing partner or regional president seat, where ownership terms can decide the search. An executive joining a platform now joins while consolidators expect acquisition valuations to hold flat, which may change how equity gets negotiated.
7. Executive moves to watch
Publicly announced leadership changes at U.S. wealth management organizations between June 1 and August 23, 2026, from firm announcements, SEC filings and trade press. We report moves at role and organization level.
| Role | Organization type | Move | Announced | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President and CEO | PE-owned trust company | Executive chair elevated. Previously ran a bank-owned trust business | 11 Aug | On file |
| President | Multi-state trust company | External hire, formerly leading a regional bank's institutional and personal trust businesses | 13 Aug | Register 41 |
| Head of Wealth Management | Independent wealth platform | External hire from a global asset manager | 19 Aug | On file |
| President, plus growth, operating and finance chiefs | RIA, $1B to $5B | 4 appointments announced together | 19 Aug | On file |
| Co-CEOs, 2 | Regional RIA, $1B to $5B | Internal promotions. Founder to executive chairman after 22 years | 13 Jul | Register 44 |
| Chief Investment Officer and COO | RIA, $10B to $25B | 2 external hires announced together | 14 Jul | On file |
| Chief Operating Officer | Employee-owned national partnership firm | External hire, previously COO and CFO at another RIA | 6 Jul | On file |
| Chief Executive Officer | Wealth technology platform | Board member appointed, from an AI-native advisor software business | 4 Jun | On file |
| President and Chief Business Officer | PE-backed national RIA | Departure under 3 months after joining. See the update below | 29 Jun | Register 42 |
Also in the window: an EVP of corporate strategy left a national broker-dealer about 6 and a half months after joining, reported July 30 (source register 43).
What we observed
Two senior platform hires left inside 7 months. A PE-backed national RIA's president and chief business officer left under 3 months in, and a national broker-dealer's EVP of corporate strategy left after about 6 and a half.
Our hypothesis. Platform executive roles may be getting created faster than they're defined. For a candidate that's a diligence question. For a hiring firm it's an argument for spending longer on the mandate, since a short tenure at this level can cost the search and then the rework.
Founder succession showed up as a leadership change. A regional RIA's founder moved to executive chairman after 22 years and handed the chief executive role to 2 internal executives jointly.
Our hypothesis. With 35% of advisors planning to retire inside 10 years and more than a quarter uncertain about succession, more successions may run through internal promotion.
Update since the window closed
September 22, 2026. The PE-backed national RIA in the last row named a new president. The announcement puts the start in the middle of the fourth quarter (source register 45). It falls outside the June 1 to August 23 window, so it isn't counted in this edition's moves or regional tables.
8. Capital and M&A read-forward
Transactions announced between June 1 and August 23, 2026, with status as of September 28. "Announced" means we found no public closing announcement by that date.
| # | Transaction | Size | Announced | Status, 28 Sep |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Carlyle takes a minority stake in Prime Capital Financial, with about $600M of capital | ~$50B AUM | 6 Aug | Announced. The release says the leadership team stays unchanged |
| 2 | Corient acquires Summit Trail Advisors | $21B+ assets | 5 Aug | Pending. The release expects closing in Q3 |
| 3 | Caprock acquires Venturi Private Wealth | ~$4B AUM | 14 Jul | Announced |
| 4 | Investcorp takes a stake in Berger Financial Group | $3B+ AUM | 29 Jul | Announced |
| 5 | Waverly Advisors acquires Smithfield Trust Company | ~$3B | 17 Jun | Closed 12 Jun, per the release |
| 6 | Allworth Financial acquires Sachetta and Arthur Stein Financial | $1.1B and ~$141M AUM | 4 Aug | Announced |
| 7 | Stearns Financial Group moves onto the Hightower Signature Wealth platform | ~$2.5B AUM | 4 Aug | Announced |
| 8 | Merit Financial Advisors acquires The Bridgeway Group | ~$900M total assets | 12 Aug | Closed 31 Jul, per the release |
| 9 | MAI Capital Management adds OG Private Wealth | ~$551M AUM | 18 Aug | Effective 14 Aug, per the release |
| 10 | Modern Wealth Management acquires Flaharty Asset Management | ~$1.1B advisory and brokerage assets | 3 Jun | Announced as an asset purchase agreement |
Echelon counted 262 RIA transactions in the first half and projects about 500 for the year.
Our assessment: the capacity question each deal raises
None of these announcements establishes a vacancy, and whether one follows is the buyer's call.
| Deal | Capacity question |
|---|---|
| Row 1 | Can finance and reporting meet a new investor's standard with the same team? |
| Row 2 | Who runs integration and multi-entity compliance after closing? |
| Row 3 | Does regional leadership stretch to another acquisition? |
| Row 4 | Is finance and FP&A built for a sponsor's reporting? |
| Row 5 | Who owns trust leadership and fiduciary risk inside an RIA? |
| Row 6 | Does tax advisory leadership absorb a tax-focused practice? |
| Row 7 | Do platform operations and compliance keep pace with added practices? |
| Rows 8 and 9 | Is integration operations sized to the deal pace? |
| Row 10 | Who runs integration and compliance for an asset purchase? |
Concentrated repeat buying can put the same capacity questions to the same firms, deal after deal.
Deliberately excluded. Two private equity sponsors were reported on July 27 to be bidding around $7 billion for a large RIA. We found no announced winner as of September 28, so it stays out until one is. Transactions announced after August 23 carry into the January edition.
9. Regional signal
Transactions and leadership changes announced between June 1 and August 23, 2026. "No verified signal" means we found nothing verifiable in the window. Transactions outside the 11 markets appear in section 8 only.
| Region | Verified signal this window |
|---|---|
| New York metro | An RIA agreed to acquire a $21B+ New York firm. A New Jersey RIA made 2 external C-suite hires. A Stamford partnership firm hired a COO |
| West Coast & Mountain | An RIA acquired a ~$900M Southern California firm and another added a ~$551M Northern California firm. A Bay Area RIA named 2 co-CEOs. A Phoenix RIA named 4 executives at once |
| New England | An RIA agreed to acquire a $1.1B Massachusetts firm. A Boston trust company named a new chief executive. A Massachusetts wealth technology platform appointed a board member as CEO |
| Chicago & upper Midwest | A sponsor took a stake in a $3B+ Minnesota RIA. A Chicago-based national RIA's president and chief business officer left inside 3 months |
| Ohio Valley | An RIA acquired a ~$3B Pittsburgh trust company |
| Florida | An RIA agreed to acquire a ~$1.1B Clearwater firm |
| Texas & Oklahoma | An RIA agreed to acquire a ~$4B Austin firm with an Oklahoma City presence. An Austin-based wealth platform hired a head of wealth management from a global asset manager |
| Carolinas | A ~$2.5B Greensboro and Chapel Hill practice moved onto a national RIA's platform |
| Mid-Atlantic | An RIA agreed to acquire a ~$141M Bethesda firm |
| Southeast | No verified signal this window |
| Philadelphia & Delaware Valley | No verified signal this window |
Regional rule: named metropolitan market first, state-based region second. Stamford and northern New Jersey are assigned to New York metro.
10. Risk, compliance and data leadership
Our hypothesis. Compliance leadership demand in wealth management may track the examination and rulemaking calendar more closely than it tracks AUM.
This quarter's calendar:
| Item | Date | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Regulation S-P amendments, smaller entities | Compliance date 3 Jun 2026 | Incident response programs and customer notification, now live for advisers under $1.5B AUM |
| SEC 2026 regulatory agenda | Published 7 Jul 2026 | Tentative October 2026 target dates for proposals on custody including crypto assets, adviser recordkeeping, pay-to-play and retail access to private markets. Agenda dates are estimates for proposals, and none is a compliance deadline |
| NASAA Model Rule 502(b), amended | Adopted by NASAA 4 May 2026 | A model for state adoption on testimonials, endorsements and performance advertising by state-registered advisers. It applies in a state once that state adopts it |
On the data side, the 2026 T3 and Inside Information advisor software survey(March, 2,906 respondents) found 52% of advisors using search or generative AI tools, up from 41% a year earlier.
Executive hiring implication
Our hypothesis. A firm that outsourced its chief compliance officer while under $1 billion and has since crossed $5 billion through acquisition is a likely candidate to bring the role in-house.
Our hypothesis. Technology hiring and business-function data hiring are worth separating. Advisor productivity analytics and post-acquisition data consolidation sit closer to the business than to technology, so a platform in the middle of a consolidation program may be better served by a head of data engineering reporting to operations.
11. Hiring before the hiring, and the outlook
Four signals fired in this window: acquisitions announced, PE investments announced, founders handing over the chief executive role, and trust capability changing hands. We haven't measured how long any of them takes to produce an appointment, so we set no timeline. Each hypothesis below says what would support it, and the January edition reports what we find.
Our hypothesis: integration and compliance leadership at acquirers. Some of the 10 wealth firms buying or taking investment in section 8 may add integration or compliance leadership. The evidence behind it: 262 RIA transactions announced in the first half, with repeat buyers taking 62.5% of Q2 volume. What would support it: a publicly announced COO, head of integration or chief compliance officer appointment at one of those firms. Confidence: Moderate
Our hypothesis: compliance leadership at firms that outgrew their function. Some SEC-registered RIAs may add a chief compliance officer as a new in-house role. The evidence behind it: the Regulation S-P compliance date for smaller advisers passed June 3, the SEC's fiscal 2026 examination priorities name the Regulation S-P amendments, and 4 SEC agenda items carry tentative October 2026 target dates for proposals. What would support it: publicly announced chief compliance officer hires at RIAs that describe the role as new in-house or tie it to growth or an acquisition. Confidence: Moderate
Our hypothesis: heads of private markets. Some RIAs and multi-family offices may add a head of alternatives or private markets. The evidence behind it: advisors allocate $2.2 trillion to less-than-fully-liquid private capital, Cerulli forecasts $2 trillion more over 5 years, and both the DOL's March 30 proposal and the SEC's retail private markets agenda item point the same way. What would support it: publicly announced heads of alternatives, private markets or private investments at RIAs or multi-family offices. Confidence: Moderate
The hypothesis against our own. Deal-driven hiring may cool in 2027 even though Echelon projects a record 2026. In DeVoe's survey, 82% of consolidators expect flat valuations over the next 6 months and 73% say the gap between seller and buyer price expectations is widening. What would support it: an Echelon Q1 2027 count below Q2 2026's 120. Confidence: Emerging
Our hypothesis this quarter
Plan integration capacity before the next closing
Our hypothesis. Record first-half deal volume concentrated in repeat buyers may turn integration into a leadership question at the buyers. A firm that plans for it can answer the capacity question before its next closing: who runs one compliance program and one data model across the acquired firms? Without an answer, a stack of acquired firms on separate systems can become a leadership problem.
Our assessment. In trust and fiduciary the arithmetic is harder. Few people have run a trust company, and 2 trust companies named new leaders in the same week in August.
About Lyneer Search Group
The executive search firm for insurance, wealth management, and financial services. Founded in 1993, headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey.
Every search starts with the industry. A P&C carrier and an RIA both need a CFO, but the job is completely different. That context decides whether a leader succeeds or struggles, and it's why we chose depth over breadth at the start.
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Methodology and scope
Public figures name their source and date. The source register below lists each one with a link. This edition draws on BLS (Current Employment Statistics and Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics), the Federal Reserve Z.1, the SEC, the IRS, the Department of Labor, NASAA, the IAA and COMPLY, Cerulli, Echelon Partners, DeVoe & Company, AdvizorPro, Capgemini, Deloitte, AICPA, T3 and Inside Information, company announcements, SEC filings, wealth trade press, and live employer job postings. Where we report a tracker's count, such as Echelon's 91 PE-backed deals, we report its published figure and haven't audited the deals underneath it.
Posted pay is a convenience sample, quoted from the employer. 30 ranges from 29 postings at 16 employers, read from the employer's own careers site or applicant tracking system. Nothing is averaged or estimated, and no third-party posting is included. Base salary, total cash and unstated are kept distinct and never blended. A range counts as base only where the posting says base. BLS OEWS appears once, for context only.
How the sample was built and checked. Two research passes ran separate employer rosters on September 2, 2026, and reconciled on September 3. An observation is a posting with a published range. The collection held 48 senior-tier ranges. On September 28 we re-read every one of those postings in a live browser: 30 were live with the figure we recorded, and 17 postings had closed. 1 posting now shows a $350,000 to $400,000 total expected cash range where we recorded a $170,000 to $210,000 base range, and we can't tell whether the posting changed or our September 2 read was wrong. Under our standing rule, anything we can't re-verify is held out, so those 18 stay in the collection file marked UNVERIFIED.
Postings are reported by employer type. The posted-pay register below lists every published range by row, with its observation and re-check dates. The employer, posting URL and both reads are held on file for verification.
Our sources are public and independent of us. Lyneer's contribution is the interpretation. It sits apart from the data in labeled blocks, marked as our assessment or our hypothesis, with our confidence on each hypothesis in section 11. Where 2 reputable sources count the same thing differently, both publish separately, as Echelon and DeVoe do on deal counts. Every figure carries its vintage: IRS examination coverage runs to tax year 2021 and the Deloitte family office figures are the 2024 edition.
Calculated figures say so. The 30,500 employment change is calculated from published BLS levels for August 2025 and August 2026, the latter preliminary. The range spreads in section 6 are calculated from the posted figures.
Executive moves are publicly announced moves only, from firm announcements, SEC filings or trade press reporting them, and we report them at role and organization level. Moves and transactions use a closed window, June 1 to August 23, 2026. Material developments after it appear only in a marked update. We name companies in the capital and M&A table and in the source register. We don't name individuals, and we don't publish client names or compensation from a live search. Where one of our interpretations rests on a move, the source register cites it by date and type of report, without a link, so the firm stays unnamed. Every move source is held on file.
Scope. Banks and credit unions as institutions, bank balance-sheet data, specialty finance and fintech sit outside this edition, except wealth platforms, TAMPs and technology platforms built for advisors. Bank-owned trust and private-client businesses appear as a source of executives moving into firms we serve. Their postings were in the September 2 collection and had closed by September 28.
Coverage gaps, stated rather than filled: no data or data engineering observation, no compliance or trust officer range after the re-check, no independent broker-dealer employer publishing a range, and no chief financial, operating, investment or compliance officer among the 30 ranges. A board that returned no range tells us what we found and nothing more.
This brief is market intelligence for hiring decisions. It isn't investment, legal or tax advice.
Edited by Karen Childers, Director, Business Development / Branding & Content, Lyneer Search Group.
Market data cutoff: September 11, 2026. Moves and transactions announced June 1 to August 23, 2026. Employer postings read September 2 and re-checked September 28, 2026. Last updated: September 28, 2026.
Posted-pay register
Every range this edition publishes, one row per range. Read September 2, 2026 by the research pass shown in the collection file and re-checked live on September 28, 2026, when every figure below matched the posting. Employer type stands in for the employer name, which is held on file with the posting URL. Row IDs match the collection file.
| Row | Role as posted | Employer type | Market | Posted range | Basis | Variable pay in the posting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WM14 | Senior Tax Manager, International | Single family office | Stamford metro CT | $400,000 to $475,000 | Total cash | Merit bonus included in the range |
| WM15 | Senior Tax Manager, Trust | Single family office | Stamford metro CT | $175,000 to $305,000 | Total cash | Merit bonus included in the range |
| WM16 | Senior Tax Manager | RIA above $15 billion | New York metro NJ | $160,000 to $190,000 | Unstated | Performance-based bonus |
| WM18 | Tax Manager | National RIA aggregator | San Francisco Bay Area CA | $130,000 to $180,000 | Base | None stated. Equity purchase program option |
| WM25 | Tax Manager | Multi-family office | San Diego CA | $121,900 to $172,500 | Unstated | None stated |
| WB25 | Tax Manager | National RIA aggregator | Phoenix metro AZ | $82,800 to $157,200 | Unstated | Offers bonus |
| WM20 | Tax Manager, Northeast | National RIA aggregator | Remote, Northeast band | $106,000 to $135,000 | Base | Incentive compensation |
| WB10 | Senior Wealth Advisor | National RIA aggregator | New York NY | $150,000 to $350,000 | Unstated | None stated |
| WB11 | Senior Wealth Advisor | National RIA aggregator | Reno NV | $150,000 to $350,000 | Unstated | None stated |
| WM03 | Regional Managing Director, Wealth Advisory | Multi-family office | Chicago IL and New York NY | $250,000 to $300,000 | Base | Annual incentive |
| WB01 | Head of Managed Accounts and Model Portfolio Delivery, SVP | Alternatives investment platform | Stamford metro CT and New York NY | $210,000 to $260,000 | Base | Equity; annual performance bonus |
| WB03 | Risk Manager, Structured Products | Single family office | New York NY | $200,000 to $250,000 | Base | Discretionary year-end bonus |
| WM04 | Regional Managing Director, Client Service | Multi-family office | New York NY, Atlanta GA, Reston VA | $175,000 to $250,000 | Base | Annual incentive |
| WB13 | Wealth Manager | National RIA aggregator | Seattle WA | $150,000 to $250,000 | Base | Annual cash bonus may apply |
| WM13 | Portfolio Manager, Vice President | Alternatives investment platform | New York NY | $160,000 to $220,000 | Base | Equity; annual performance bonus |
| WB05 | Senior Associate, Legal Counsel | Multi-family office | San Francisco CA | $180,000 to $210,000 | Unstated | None stated |
| WM06 | Director, Support Operations | Wealth technology platform | New York NY | $155,000 to $185,000 | Base | Incentive bonus; equity |
| WB15 | Advanced Wealth Strategist | RIA | Southern California | $160,000 to $183,000 | Base | None stated. The posting's pay box shows $163,000 to $183,000 |
| WB14 | UHNW and Institutional Investment Advisor | National RIA aggregator | Rochester NY | $150,000 to $180,000 | Base | Annual cash bonus may apply |
| WB06 | Corporate Governance Attorney, AVP or VP | Alternatives investment platform | Stamford metro CT and New York NY | $150,000 to $175,000 | Base | Equity; annual performance bonus |
| WB17 | Client Advisor | RIA | San Francisco CA | $150,000 to $175,000 | Base | Added pay discussed for advisors who bring clients |
| WB16 | Portfolio Manager, Traditional Investments | RIA | Seattle WA | $115,000 to $200,000 | Base | Discretionary performance bonus |
| WM24 | Associate Director, Client Advisory | Multi-family office | Denver and Boulder CO | $110,000 to $150,000 | Base | Discretionary bonus |
| WB18 | Client Advisor | RIA | Seattle WA | $125,000 to $150,000 | Base | Added pay discussed for advisors who bring clients |
| WB21b | Associate, Family Office Advisory | Multi-family office | New York NY and San Francisco CA | $130,000 to $150,000 | Unstated | None stated. Same posting as WB21a |
| WM23 | Associate Director, Client Advisory | Multi-family office | Boston MA | $120,000 to $140,000 | Base | Discretionary bonus |
| WM08 | Associate Director, Private Wealth Client Services | Multi-family office | Chicago IL | $100,000 to $125,000 | Base | Annual incentive |
| WB21a | Senior Analyst, Family Office Advisory | Multi-family office | New York NY and San Francisco CA | $110,000 to $120,000 | Unstated | None stated. Same posting as WB21b |
| WB23 | Associate Wealth Advisor, UHNW | National RIA aggregator | Denver CO | $97,750 to $115,000 | Base | Incentive compensation |
| WM17 | Principal Wealth Advisor | Tech-enabled RIA | Remote, US | $200,000 to $1,000,000 and above | Unstated | Offers equity. Asks for an existing, transferable book |
Held out. 18 senior-tier ranges from the September 2 collection: 17 postings had closed by September 28 and 1 showed a different figure and basis. They stay in the collection file marked UNVERIFIED, with the reason for each.
Basis rule. Base means the posting says base. Total cash means the posting says the range includes bonus. Everything else is unstated.
Source register
Every public source this edition cites, with the date it was published and what it supports. Rows 39 to 45 are the executive moves our interpretations rest on. They carry the date and type of report without a link, so the firms stay unnamed, and each full source is held on file with the other move sources. Posted pay is held on file under our naming rule, because a link would name the employer.
| # | Source | Published | Supports | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Echelon Partners, RIA M&A Deal Report Q2 2026, press release | 28 Jul 2026 | Q2 and first-half deal counts, PE share, repeat buyers, median AUM, full-year projection | prnewswire.com |
| 2 | DeVoe & Company, RIA Deal Book Q2 2026 | 16 Jul 2026 | Q2 and first-half counts, consolidator share, valuation survey | devoeandcompany.com |
| 3 | WealthManagement.com via Yahoo Finance, on the DeVoe survey | 16 Jul 2026 | Multiples above 20 times; 73% say the price gap is widening | finance.yahoo.com |
| 4 | Financial Planning, on the DeVoe survey | 17 Jul 2026 | 8% expected increases a year earlier | financial-planning.com |
| 5 | Cerulli Associates press release | 4 Aug 2026 | 35% of advisors plan to retire within 10 years; succession uncertainty | cerulli.com |
| 6 | AdvizorPro, The advisor talent landscape in 2026 | Apr 2026 | Producing-advisor exits and entrants, 2025; method | advizorpro.com |
| 7 | WealthManagement.com, on AdvizorPro channel data | 16 Jan 2026 | Channel movement: broker-dealer and RIA channels | wealthmanagement.com |
| 8 | BLS Employment Situation, Table B-1 | 4 Sep 2026 | Securities, funds and trusts employment, August 2026 | bls.gov |
| 9 | BLS series CES5552300001 via FRED | Sep 2026 | August 2025 level, cross-check | fred.stlouisfed.org |
| 10 | Federal Reserve Z.1 Financial Accounts | 11 Sep 2026 | Household and nonprofit net worth, Q2 2026 | federalreserve.gov |
| 11 | Capgemini World Wealth Report 2026 | 4 Jun 2026 | U.S. HNWI count and growth, definition | capgemini.com |
| 12 | IAA and COMPLY, 2026 Investment Adviser Industry Snapshot | 3 Jun 2026 | SEC-registered advisers, assets, clients, employees, firm size | globenewswire.com |
| 13 | IRS IR-2025-103 | 9 Oct 2025 | 2026 estate basic exclusion | irs.gov |
| 14 | IRS Data Book, Table 3-1, compliance presence | 2026 | Examination coverage by total positive income, tax year 2021 | irs.gov |
| 15 | AICPA 2025 Trends report | 27 Oct 2025 | Accounting degrees, 2023 to 2024 | aicpa-cima.com |
| 16 | Cerulli, U.S. Private Markets 2026 | 30 Jul 2026 | Advisor private capital allocation and forecast | cerulli.com |
| 17 | Deloitte Private, Defining the Family Office Landscape, 2024 edition | 2024 | North American single family offices | deloitte.com |
| 18 | BLS OEWS, May 2025 estimates, Table 1 | 15 May 2026 | Mean wages, personal financial advisors and financial managers | bls.gov |
| 19 | T3 and Inside Information 2026 Software Survey | 10 Mar 2026 | Advisor use of search and generative AI tools | businesswire.com |
| 20 | SEC Regulation S-P Small Entity Compliance Guide | 2024 | Smaller-entity compliance date | sec.gov |
| 21 | Dechert, on the Regulation S-P amendments | Jul 2024 | $1.5 billion threshold for larger entities | dechert.com |
| 22 | SEC Chair statement on the 2026 Regulatory Agenda | 7 Jul 2026 | Agenda publication | sec.gov |
| 23 | Proskauer, SEC 2026 agenda takeaways | Jul 2026 | Agenda items and target dates for advisers | proskauer.com |
| 24 | NASAA press release | 4 May 2026 | Model Rule 502(b) amendments | nasaa.org |
| 25 | Federal Register 2026-06178, DOL proposed rule | 31 Mar 2026 | Selecting designated investment alternatives | federalregister.gov |
| 26 | SEC Division of Examinations, fiscal 2026 priorities | 17 Nov 2025 | Regulation S-P named in exam priorities | sec.gov |
| 27 | Prime Capital Financial announcement | 6 Aug 2026 | Carlyle minority stake, capital, leadership | finance.yahoo.com |
| 28 | Corient announcement | 5 Aug 2026 | Summit Trail Advisors acquisition, expected close | corient.com |
| 29 | Caprock announcement | 14 Jul 2026 | Venturi Private Wealth acquisition | prnewswire.com |
| 30 | Investcorp announcement | 29 Jul 2026 | Berger Financial Group investment | investcorp.com |
| 31 | Waverly Advisors announcement | 17 Jun 2026 | Smithfield Trust Company acquisition | businesswire.com |
| 32 | Allworth Financial announcement | 4 Aug 2026 | Sachetta acquisition | prnewswire.com |
| 33 | WealthManagement.com, on the Allworth deals | Aug 2026 | Arthur Stein Financial size | wealthmanagement.com |
| 34 | Hightower announcement | 4 Aug 2026 | Stearns Financial Group platform move | businesswire.com |
| 35 | Merit Financial Advisors announcement | 12 Aug 2026 | The Bridgeway Group acquisition | prnewswire.com |
| 36 | MAI Capital Management announcement | 18 Aug 2026 | OG Private Wealth addition | mai.capital |
| 37 | Modern Wealth Management announcement | 3 Jun 2026 | Flaharty Asset Management acquisition | businesswire.com |
| 38 | InvestmentNews | 27 Jul 2026 | The excluded bid for a large RIA | investmentnews.com |
| 39 | Reported in wealth trade press | 1 Jun 2026 | Section 2 move: a broker-dealer network's head of business development left | Held on file |
| 40 | Reported in wealth trade press | 18 Aug 2026 | Section 2 move: the same network's SVP of sales, who led recruiting, left | Held on file |
| 41 | Company announcement, via a press release wire | 13 Aug 2026 | Section 7 move: a multi-state trust company named a president | Held on file |
| 42 | Widely reported in wealth and business press | 26 to 30 Jun 2026 | Section 7 move: a PE-backed national RIA's president and chief business officer left | Held on file |
| 43 | Reported in wealth trade press | 30 Jul 2026 | Section 7 move: a national broker-dealer's EVP of corporate strategy left | Held on file |
| 44 | Widely reported in wealth trade press | 13 and 14 Jul 2026 | Section 7 move: a regional RIA named 2 internal co-CEOs; founder to executive chairman | Held on file |
| 45 | Widely reported in wealth and business press | 22 to 26 Sep 2026 | Section 7 update: the same PE-backed RIA named a new president, starting mid-fourth quarter | Held on file |
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