Mergers & Acquisitions

RIAs buying other RIAs will be a common theme over the next several years as firms look to grow via acquisition. The trick will be finding sellers who are not asking too much.One of the biggest shifts in the deal environment for registered investment advisers is large RIA firms becoming “serial

Fourth quarter flurry helped boost numbers over 2011 tally but just barely.

Cetera Financial Group is continuing its aggressive expansion, announcing last Friday that it had agreed to acquire two independent broker-dealers from MetLife Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Cole turns down bid from rival American Realty Capital; minimizes the premium

Company is said to be pursuing an acquisition of one or more broker-dealers

Mergers-and-acquisitions activity by RIA firms last year was significantly less than some in the industry expected.

When it comes to what an RIA firm is worth, buyers and sellers tell a very different tale.

National firms were on the prowl for RIAs last year. While fewer deals closed, the level of assets changing hands rose sharply.

Time may be running out for Legg Mason, at least as a mutual fund brand name. Legg Mason Capital Management — a household name in the 1990s, thanks to star manager Bill Miller's 15-year streak of beating the S&P 500 — is merging into Legg Mason Inc. subsidiary ClearBridge Advisors LLC, the company

United Capital Financial Advisers LLC has acquired Seattle-based registered investment adviser Paragon Investment Management Inc., giving the firm its first foothold in the Northwest region of the country. “The Northwest region was a gaping hole in our national footprint,” said Joe Duran, chief

Argent Financial, Highland Capital will have combined $4.3 billion in assets.