The seller was torn. Both parties competing to buy his RIA brought compelling offers, strong teams and clear cultural alignment. But one had a slight operational edge: more polished billing, smoother onboarding and tighter workflows.
Not an especially flashy set of differentiators, but it tipped the scale.
The seller saw a firm that could actually run better: cleaner processes, fewer bottlenecks and better execution. That kind of operational strength wasn’t just a nice-to-have. It was a genuine operational upgrade.
Culture Isn’t Everything
This is happening more often in RIA M&A. Sellers are still weighing cultural fit, valuation and investment capabilities, but when those variables are close, operations are often what breaks a tie. The deeper the seller looks, the more those systems matter — because they shape how the business functions after the close: in meetings, handoffs and every client interaction.
It’s less about the story these days and more about infrastructure.
What used to be afterthoughts — billing systems, CRM architecture, HR support — are now front and center. As a result, sellers are asking hard, practical questions that vision statements can’t answer. Questions like:
Can this platform improve the client experience? Clients expect more than performance reports. They want tax strategy, access to private markets and seamless transitions when life gets complicated. If the buyer’s systems can’t support that without patchwork, the seller knows they’ll hear about it — from clients, advisors and support staff.
Can this platform support my team? Most advisory firms run lean. Their people already do too much. Sellers are paying attention to whether a buyer can make life easier with streamlined billing, real HR coverage, help with hiring and tech that actually gets used. A CRM that just sits there isn’t enough. It has to push work forward.
Can this platform help me grow? M&A isn’t just about change. It’s about business growth. Support for custodian referrals, focused lead gen, advisor coaching and practice-management support are all operational functions. If improvements on those fronts aren’t baked into the offer, the growth won’t happen. And sellers know it.
“Culture matters, certainly,” an advisor with several deals under his belt told me recently. “But if the new system introduces new pain points, my team’s going to hate it and I’m going to regret the deal.”
A Timely Preview
In one Northeast deal, the seller was already deep in discussions with a potential buyer when a major client opportunity came up. They agreed to pursue it together. What started as a pitch became a live test of how the buyer actually operated. They delivered models, proposals and compliance approvals in a matter of days. The systems held up. The team delivered. And the seller got a real view of what it would feel like to run the business on that platform. It clinched the deal.
Differentiating efficiencies show up in speed, accuracy and how little time an advisor has to spend chasing answers. Clients feel it. Staff members feel it. Buyers increasingly use it to secure prime acquisitions.
Scale amplifies these effects. Centralized operations reduce duplication. Strong vendor relationships improve pricing and responsiveness. Integrated systems cut down on dropped balls and missed steps. These aren’t back-office upgrades. They’re what let advisors move faster, serve better and not waste time.
Those who’ve endured bad infrastructure before are using actual scorecards to assess suitors.
And many sellers aren’t just guessing. Those who’ve endured bad infrastructure before are using actual scorecards to assess suitors. Platform strength, staff enablement, client tools, autonomy, equity and cultural fit — they’re all under a microscope because sellers understand how much faulty systems can drag on growth.
The strongest sellers aren’t simply asking: “Do I like this buyer?” They want to know if the would-be buyer across the table can help them work more efficiently.
Good For Everybody
One RIA owner I know had watched a peer sell to a name-brand aggregator and started making moves to follow suit. As talks with the roll-up buyer progressed, however, another buyer emerged. The new suitor wasn’t as well known, but their systems were stronger. Their handoffs looked cleaner. Their tools seemed more robust. On that evidence, the seller switched tracks and got a far better deal for himself, his firm and his clients.
To compete in today’s market, buyers need to show state-of-the-art infrastructure. This means showing the systems in play, not just describing them. What does onboarding look like? How fast does the CRM pull a client snapshot? Who handles compliance and how long does it take? These are the details that matter.
Culture creates interest, but operational strength closes the sale.
Culture creates interest, but operational strength closes the sale. Sellers out there making the smartest decisions are disciplined. They ignore flash and focus on the mechanics of the buyer’s operations stack. And they’re selecting acquirers who can show viable and fully functional infrastructure, not just promises and pitch decks.
In RIA M&A today, the best outcomes don’t come from personal alignment alone. They come from platforms that actually work.
Harris Baltch is Managing Director, Co-Head of Dynasty Investment Bank.
