Through the first half of 2026, wealth management mergers and acquisitions (M&A) has maintained the record pace established earlier this year. A total of 187 transactions were announced through June 30, representing a 2.7% increase over the 182 transactions announced during the same period in 2025. On its own, that increase may appear modest. In context, however, it reinforces something more important: demand for high quality wealth management firms remains exceptionally strong, even as the industry continues to evolve.
If the first quarter highlighted how AI, technology investment, and infrastructure requirements were beginning to reshape the economics of independence, the second quarter suggests firms are increasingly acting on those realities. MarshBerry is engaged in conversations with more wealth management firms than at any point in the past. Even more telling, many of the industry’s most active strategic acquirers report evaluating more opportunities than ever before and remain on pace, or ahead, to achieve their inorganic growth objectives.
This distinction matters. The headline is not simply that transactions remain elevated. Rather, the level of strategic engagement occurring beneath the surface has continued to accelerate. Increasingly, firms are evaluating partnerships long before succession becomes a concern. That shift reflects a broader recognition that the capabilities required to compete are evolving faster than many firms’ ability to build them independently.
