Published on Jun 30, 2026 • Updated on Sep 13, 2026
This article was written by Adem Tumerkan
Content Editor, Dunham | 2025 ThinkAdvisor Luminary Award Winner | 2026 Wealthies Finalist — Thought Leader of the Year | Macroeconomics, markets, geopolitics & global trends
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Solo RIAs with $40–80M in AUM and no designated successor have four real succession options: an internal transition to a hired second-generation advisor, an external sale to a peer RIA, affiliation with an aggregator or rollup, or a wind-down with a managed client transition. Each differs sharply in valuation, timeline, and impact on clients.
There's something you should know before you read another word.
Most solo RIA succession content was written by people who want to buy your firm. That's a built-in incentive to make you doubt your practice's value, or rush a decision that benefits them more than you.
So let's start with the facts instead.
Time is working against most of those advisors. A three-year runway gives you four real options. A three-month runway gives you one - and you won't love it.
But that same clock pulling you toward an exit is pulling a wave of next-generation advisors into the market looking for exactly what you've built. The transfer is coming regardless5. The only question is whether your clients land somewhere you chose - or somewhere that happened to you.
Solo RIAs are built around personal relationships. Clients hired you - your judgment, your investment philosophy, your availability through market cycles.
That's your competitive advantage while you're working. It's also exactly what makes succession hard when you stop.
A G2 (second-generation) advisor is someone earlier in their career looking to acquire an established book rather than build one from scratch. You identify one, either someone you've been mentoring or a lateral hire, and structure a phased buyout. Financing typically comes from an SBA loan, a seller note, or both.
Valuations for smaller practices typically run 1.5x–2.5x recurring revenue6.
For example, a solo RIA generating $400,000 in annual recurring revenue puts the purchase price between $600,000 and $1 million. The buyer pays over time, usually 5–10 years, which means you carry some of the risk. If clients walk after the transition, your payout shrinks.
The upside is client retention. Continuity beats handoffs. The downside is time. This takes 3–5 years to execute properly, and you need to find the right person first.
You find a peer - another independent advisor or a small firm - and sell your book directly to them. No aggregator, no rollup, no private equity in the background. Just two advisors making a deal.
Valuations run in a similar range to internal transitions. They can go higher if your client demographics are attractive to the right buyer.
The client experience depends entirely on who you pick. Pick well, and clients get an advisor with a similar philosophy and service model. Pick poorly, and they notice fast. The key risk is that if your top five households represent 40%+ of AUM, expect buyers to discount7 for that concentration (give you less) - or threaten to walk.
Why? Because a $500,000 revenue practice where two families account for $200,000 of that is a harder sell than it looks on paper. A peer RIA takes on your book whole. Unlike an aggregator spreading it across a larger portfolio, they carry that concentration risk alone. And they'll price it that way.
Aggregator deals for practices in the $300M–$1B AUM range can reach 2.5x–4x revenue. For a solo RIA at $40–80M AUM, the number is lower. But an aggregator offer can still beat a peer-to-peer sale price alone.
Read the structure before you sign – because cash at closing typically runs 50–70% of the total deal.
The rest arrives in two pieces - an earn-out tied to client retention, and equity rolled into the acquiring firm. Both come over 24–36 months8. Both depend on what happens after you hand over the keys.
So yes, the price is attractive. It just doesn't all show up on day one.
This one never shows up in the M&A articles because there's nothing to sell.
You spend 12–18 months introducing your clients to a trusted advisor or small firm, facilitate the transition yourself, and simply wind down.
No purchase price. No earn-out. No equity rollover.
More advisors do this than the industry admits. Some because the financials don't work, like a practice too small to attract a meaningful offer. Others because they won't sell client relationships to anyone. Both are legitimate reasons. This is still an option, and like all others, it deserves honest consideration.
No one source currently lays these four side by side without a buyer's incentive behind it. That's the gap this table is meant to close.
Three factors consistently compress what a buyer will pay for a founder-led solo practice.
And all three are fixable.
You need 2–3 years of lead time, a CRM you actually use, and a deliberate program of introducing clients to a second advisor before you need to.
The advisors who can get the best exits are the ones who made their practice look like a business well before a buyer showed up.
The aggregator deal often pays the most. That's true. It's also true that when an aggregator acquires your practice, your clients end up with a different brand, a different investment platform, and often a different service team, without being asked.
That can pose a problem because they didn't hire a firm. They hired you. That trust comes with a premium, and it doesn't transfer easily. It has to be re-earned.
But there’s an awkward conflict that arises.
The option that makes the most financial sense and the option that best honors your fiduciary relationship with your clients are not always the same option.
A higher multiple from an aggregator deserves to be weighed against what your clients actually signed up for when they hired you. Neither answer is wrong. But pretending the tradeoff doesn't exist is how advisors end up regretting a deal that looked great on paper.
Your fiduciary obligation doesn't end at the closing table.
Start documenting client relationships in a CRM if you haven't already. Then have a frank conversation with a securities attorney who specializes in RIA transactions, not a generalist, not a financial planner, but a transactional attorney who has worked advisory firm deals specifically. Those two steps don't cost much. They open every other door.
Can a solo RIA with no partner still sell the practice? Yes. You can sell to another independent RIA, join an aggregator, or bring in a hired advisor to build an internal succession plan first. Buyers look hardest at client concentration and how much of your revenue actually recurs. Firms without a documented succession plan often see a 0.5x to 1.5x EBITDA discount, though rollover equity or staying on through a transition can help close that gap.
What are the main succession options for a small RIA? Small RIA owners generally choose from four paths: bringing on a second-generation advisor internally, selling to another independent RIA, affiliating with an aggregator, or winding down with a managed client handoff. Each path changes your timeline, your payout, and how smooth the transition feels for clients once you step away from the firm.
What's a realistic valuation multiple for a small RIA in 2026? Firms under $100M in AUM typically trade around 4.5x to 7.0x SDE, or 1.5x to 2.7x recurring revenue, in deals with peer RIAs or internal buyers. Firms in the $100M to $250M range tend to land closer to 6x to 8.5x adjusted EBITDA. Aggregator offers can run higher, but usually only once a firm has real scale.
Why does having no succession plan lower the sale price? Buyers see an undocumented plan as risk they have to absorb after closing. If clients are used to one founder and there's no one else at the firm they trust, retention after the sale gets shaky. That uncertainty usually shows up as a 0.5x to 1.5x EBITDA discount, unless the seller agrees to stay on longer or roll some proceeds into equity.
What kind of attorney should handle an RIA sale? You want a securities attorney who has actually closed advisory-firm deals, not a general business or estate lawyer. RIA transactions involve earn-outs, equity rollovers, and regulatory disclosures specific to this industry. A generalist is more likely to miss a term buried in the deal that ends up shrinking what you actually walk away with.
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Information contained in the materials included is believed to be from reliable sources, but no representations or guarantees are made as to the accuracy or completeness of information. This document is provided for information purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice.
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