The burgeoning demographic of pre-retirement advisors isn’t an outlier – a large proportion of small to medium-sized privately held businesses across the country are in the same situation, with owners approaching retirement. This need for exits dovetails with the industry’s current focused efforts to increase organic growth, meaning that growth may be found in business owner clients. Alex Michaels unpacks that strategy this week.
Regtech Surge: Prepare For 2026 SEC Exam Priorities On AI And Cybersecurity
In his latest Regtech Surge column, Sid Yenamandra of SurgeONE.ai explains the cybersecurity and AI angles on the SEC’s 2026 exam priorities.
The firm will also present a webinar on this topic later this month.
How Advisors Can Turn Exit Planning Into A Powerful Growth Strategy
Alex Michaels of RISR sets out why exit planning for clients is an addendum to advisors’ current practice, rather than a new practice, and enables advisors to deepen client relationships and trust.
Many clients are business owners and their business is often their greatest asset. Holistic advice should include this life-changing, concentrated asset.
Investments Roundup
This month’s roundup features predictions for 2026 from LPL, iCapital and BondBloxx, Cerity’s partnership with Nasdaq Private Markets, Cerulli on hedge funds, State Street on ETF inflows, Milemarker and Eaglebrook partnering on cryptocurrency and more.
Janus Henderson gives their investment take on the recent U.S. action in Venezuela.
Deals & Recruiting Roundup
This week’s roundup covers M&A by EP Wealth, Mariner, Cerity, Mercer and Cambridge; recruiting by Genesis Wealth and Prospera; appointments by Envestnet, SEI, Choreo and AllianceBernstein; and research by Jump.
Jump’s research indicates that advisors who score high in emotional intelligence produce greater increases in client sentiment.
Invest In Others Announces Recipients Of 2025 Grant Program Funding
The Invest in Others Charitable Foundation (IiO) announced the recipients of funding from its 2025 Grant Program, which includes Grants for Good and Grants for Change, totaling $290,000 in support for 16 nonprofit organizations championed by financial professionals.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, IiO has made almost $2 million in grants since 2018.
Mercer Adds Almost $1 Billion In AUM With Two Latest Acquisitions
Mercer Advisors acquired Long Run Wealth Advisors, with about $640 million in assets under management (AUM), and Poterack Capital Advisory, with about $265 million in AUM.
The deals raised Mercer’s AUM to over $92 billion.
Cerity Adds $1.4 Billion In AUM By Merging With Austin Private Wealth
Cerity Partners announced a merger with Austin, Texas-based RIA Austin Private Wealth, which closed on Dec. 31. Republic Capital Group advised Austin Private Wealth, which manages $1.4 billion in AUM.
This deal concluded a string of mergers in 2025 for Cerity Partners, which now has over $140 billion in client assets.
Hubly Aims For ‘Autonomous Practice’ With AI Integrations
Docupace subsidiary Hubly announced integrations with Jump, GReminders and Pulse360 to move from AI towards operational automation.
This is the first of many moves we should expect to see in 2026 as the industry finds use cases for agentic AI.
Cambridge Buys Minority Stake In Hybrid RIA The AmeriFlex Group
Cambridge Investment Research bought a minority stake in The AmeriFlex Group. AmeriFlex plans to use the capital to build out its advisor succession platform.
This investment follows just six months after AmeriFlex joined Cambridge from Osaic.
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Wealth Solutions Report
