What the advisers themselves reported about M&A

Item 4 of Form ADV asks whether the adviser is succeeding to the business of another registered adviser and names the firm acquired. It catches asset purchases and mergers where the target’s registration folds into the buyer’s; a stock purchase that keeps the target registered shows instead as a new owner on Schedule A and, later, as a roster exit. Firms absorbed reads the same events from the people side: half or more of a firm’s registered advisors moving to one other firm within fourteen days, which catches acquisitions before, or without, a succession filing. Press-sourced deals, PE sponsors and consolidator platforms are the next cycle.