Selling an Investment Services Business

Most RIAs and wealth management practices are valued off the cash flow an owner can actually take out, after adjusting for one-time costs and personal expenses run through the business. The multiple usually shifts with client portability, advisor dependence, compliance history, revenue mix (fees versus transactions), and whether relationships are truly team-served. You can get a quick range using Rejigg’s free valuation calculator, built on real transaction multiples and owner add-backs.

No. Brokers typically charge 5–10% of the sale price for work you can do yourself with the right process and tools. Rejigg gives you buyer access, pre-vetted buyers, digital NDAs, a secure data room, and deal tracking so you can run a professional sale directly and keep control of buyer communication. Start with the prepare-to-sell guide, then list once your portability and compliance story is documented.

Most deals land in the 4–9 month range from first buyer calls to closing. The timing usually hinges on custodian or broker-dealer approvals, how ready you are for client repapering, and how organized your diligence materials are. Hybrid and broker-dealer affiliated deals often run longer because registrations and supervisory coverage create more dependencies. Rejigg helps by keeping diligence files in one data room and tracking buyers, requests, and timelines in one dashboard.

Repapering is getting clients to sign updated paperwork after a sale, such as new advisory agreements, updated disclosures, and sometimes new custodial documents. It matters because slow or confusing paperwork is a common reason for assets to drift after closing. Buyers get comfortable faster when you can show a real workflow, client-ready messaging, and proof of how quickly clients return forms during normal updates.

Often, yes. Many advisory agreements require client consent when the agreement is assigned after a change of control, and the details depend on how your agreements are written. Most of the time, the firms that do best treat consent as a client experience project with clear messaging and a measured outreach plan. Rejigg makes it easy to share your consent plan and sample communications securely after buyers sign NDAs.

AUM retention is usually measured as the percentage of assets that remain over a set window after close, often 90–180 days. Serious buyers also separate market movement from client-driven flows because those tell different stories. Many buyers track revenue retention too, since fee schedules, discounts, and product mix can change even when AUM looks flat. Sellers tend to get cleaner terms when they propose a clear, consistent measurement upfront.

Earnouts and holdbacks show up because the buyer is paying for client behavior, and client behavior can change fast if the transition is messy. Buyers use these structures when they are uncertain about portability, team stability, or compliance follow-through. You can often reduce the strings by bringing evidence early: segmented retention, a household coverage plan, and a repapering workflow with real timelines. Rejigg’s negotiation guide shows how these terms typically get negotiated.

Sometimes, depending on the revenue model and how cleanly the cash flow is documented. Fee-based advisory revenue can be simpler to underwrite than highly transactional commission revenue, and lenders still want a believable plan for client retention after the seller steps back. To sanity-check affordability, use Rejigg’s SBA loan calculator to model payments and down payment scenarios before you negotiate final terms.

Plan to share financial statements, billing files and fee schedules, client segmentation and retention support, compliance exam history with remediation, key vendor and platform agreements, and advisor/staff role documentation. Buyers also ask for practical artifacts, like your service calendar and how client notes live in your CRM. Rejigg’s built-in data room is designed for this, so you can share in stages and control who sees what without emailing sensitive files.

Most buyers are not looking for perfection. They want to avoid hidden issues and repeated patterns like weak supervision, inconsistent advertising review, or exam findings that were never fully closed out. A strong seller can walk through compliance history in a straight line with dates, documents, and changes in daily practice. When you lay this out early, buyers stop assuming they are inheriting a surprise liability.

Custodians often treat a change of control as a real review event, and that can affect the timeline and economics. Some deals require new agreements, extra paperwork, or a formal transition process with the custodian’s team. Buyers also check whether your fee schedule or service level is tied to your current scale. The best prep is to ask your custodian for their exact checklist and typical timing, then include that in diligence.

Buyers look for evidence that your revenue holds up if fees drift down, markets drop, or your client mix changes. They usually review your fee tiers, how common discounts are, how often you waive fees in volatile periods, and whether you have a consistent pricing policy across advisors. If you can show disciplined discounting and a service model clients clearly value, buyers treat fee pressure as manageable instead of a big valuation haircut.

It depends on your entity structure, your registrations, and which contracts are tied to the entity being sold. The practical diligence question is what transfers cleanly and what still triggers client consent, custodian approvals, or broker-dealer processes. Buyers often prefer structures that limit unknown liabilities, while sellers focus on taxes and simplicity. Align your CPA and attorney early, then explain the structure in plain English to buyers.

Non-competes are common because the buyer is paying for client relationships and wants protection against the seller immediately competing for the same households. The details are where problems start, so get clear on duration, geography, what services are restricted, and what counts as solicitation. If you want to keep working in an adjacent niche, spell that out in writing during negotiation. Rejigg’s deal negotiation guide covers how these terms typically show up.

Working capital is the cash buffer that covers normal timing gaps like payroll, vendor bills, and quarterly expenses. Many RIAs have modest working capital needs, but buyers still look for enough cash to avoid strain during repapering or a billing-cycle shift. A clean way to handle this is to show a simple cash balance trend and explain your billing timing, especially if you bill quarterly in advance and revenue hits in lumps.

Confidentiality matters because rumors can trigger client anxiety, advisor departures, and messy off-channel communication. Most sellers keep it tight by talking only to qualified buyers under NDA, sharing sensitive information in stages, and planning exactly when staff and top households will be informed. Rejigg supports this with pre-vetted buyers, digital NDAs, and a secure data room where you control what each buyer can access.

Many buyers expect a structured 3–12 month transition where the seller helps with top-household introductions, referral partner continuity, and repapering momentum. Founder-led books often need more time, while team-served firms can move faster. Set expectations based on your actual client behavior and put the transition duties in writing so there are no surprises. The transition planning guide is a solid starting point.

Use a secure data room so you can share the right documents at the right time, track who accessed them, and revoke access when needed. In investment services, this is especially important because you deal with personal financial information and regulated communications. Rejigg includes a built-in secure data room, plus direct messaging and scheduling, so diligence does not turn into forwarded attachments and broken file links.