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The Carlyle Group and Bain Capital are the final bidders for Wealth Enhancement Group at a valuation of about $7 billion, including debt, the Financial Times reported.
A deal at that price would rank among the largest disclosed US private equity acquisitions of a wealth management business and equal nearly a quarter of this year’s $30.3 billion in deal value in the sector, according to PitchBook data.
Registered investment advisers controlled $9.8 trillion in assets as of April, up from $6.6 trillion in 2019, according to wealth management research firm Cerulli Associates.
For buyers, RIAs’ distribution network is the prize. This is even more so the case since March, when the Labor Department proposed a rule aimed at easing the introduction of private assets into 401(k) plans.
Carlyle CEO Harvey Schwartz has called the wealth channel a top growth priority. The firm already owns a stake in wealth management firm Captrust and completed a $2.8 billion investment in MAI Capital in June.
Bain owns about 29% of wealth management firm Carson Group and took wealth-technology provider Envestnet private for $4.6 billion in 2024.
The assets changing hands have become larger. The median disclosed transaction has increased to $86 million from $19 million between 2025 and 2026.
The growth of these platforms, however, has raised questions about their underlying economics.
The cost of purchasing smaller practices has increased, while their revenue often remains tied to advisers whose client relationships can move with them.
“These entirely M&A-driven models that have no discriminating go-to-market differential, no technology differential, no product differential: it just can’t be a self-perpetuating machine,” said one financial services investor. |
