RIA deal volume falls 17% in Q3 as $5B-plus sellers set record

Third-quarter RIA deal volume fell 17% from a year earlier, according to DeVoe & Company's Q3 2026 Deal Book, while sellers with more than $5 billion in assets already set a full-year record.

LPL Financial has bought more than 75 practices since 2021, the Deal Book says. That works out to about 15 practices a year if the deals were spread evenly. The Deal Book also describes LPL and broker-dealer rivals pushing deeper into RIA M&A.

The week's Form D filings included two new vehicles with no sales to report. Coatue filed for CT 181 LP, a private equity fund, with an undisclosed offering amount and no sales reported as of the Oct. 20 filing. Eclipse SPV XXXVII, L.P., a venture capital fund, filed the same day for a $10 million offering with nothing sold.

Three Duke Capital Partners series — 2609A, 2609B and 2609C, each a series of V360 Holdings LLC — reported $321,000, $1.1 million and $530,000 sold, about $1.95 million in total. Dream SPV Micro1 2 LLC, an other investment fund, reported $7.5 million sold against an undisclosed offering amount, with a first sale on Oct. 9.