Episode summary
Navigating the Rapidly Evolving M&A Landscape with Allen Darby
Model Fa Podcast
· · Hosts: David DeCelle · Guests: Allen Darby
Summary
Allen Darby argues that wealth management M&A has become far more crowded and sophisticated than it was four or five years ago. He says there are now easily a hundred credible to semi-credible buyers, many with dedicated corporate development teams and strong capital backing, which has made the market more competitive for sellers.
He also says seller psychology has matured. Instead of treating a sale as a binary loss of independence, he frames autonomy as a spectrum and pushes sellers to define which decisions they actually want to keep versus give up. His firm’s process starts with objective compatibility screening — fee model, custodian, tech stack, deal structure, services, and autonomy preferences — before any subjective relationship-building begins.
Darby is sharply critical of the traditional auction model, which he says invites too many buyers too early and wastes time on mismatches. He argues that rising rates have not crushed valuations, but they have made buyers much more focused on organic growth, with some refusing to engage unless a firm is above 5–7% net new asset growth. He also thinks AI could materially change advisory business economics, staffing, and even valuations.
Key takeaways
- Darby says wealth management M&A now has far more credible buyers and capital, making the market more competitive for sellers.
- He says sellers are more sophisticated today and increasingly understand autonomy as a spectrum rather than a yes-or-no loss of control.
- Darby says Allaris replaces the traditional auction with an objective compatibility screen to avoid wasting months on incompatible buyers.
- He says rising rates have pushed buyers to focus on organic growth, with some ignoring firms below 5–7% net new asset growth.
- Darby says AI could automate major parts of advisory operations within 6 to 12 months and change how buyers value firms.
Notable quotes
“there's just so many more of them. You know, it it really has been this huge curve spiking up”
“They've got very well articulated value propositions beyond just, hey, we're fiduciaries and we'll help get you out of HR and payroll”
“It's a spectrum of autonomy, right? There are buyers out there for sure when you transact with them, they're going to ask you to change a lot”
“Compatibility is objective. Okay? Okay. So, what do I mean by compatibility? It's it's all the things that would have to the boxes would have to be checked”
“if you're not like above 5 7% net new asset growth, I think the industry averages around 2 and a half%. They don't even want to talk to you”
How the episode opens
What's up guys? David Dell here, CEO of Model FA and your host of the Model FA podcast. And I am joined today by a repeat guest.
I forget off the top of my head, but uh I think it was four, five years ago uh we had Allen on the show. So, I'm I'm curious to juxtapose this episode uh compared to that one as it relates to the M&A space. But for those of you who may not know, Alan Darby is the CEO and founder of Allaris Acquisitions.
Uh and we were brought together actually by our our joint uh partner in Street Cred. So, big thanks to them. But Allan, welcome back to the show.
Yeah, David, I appreciate it. Um I I do think it was about four years ago and as we were launching Allaris I think you were you may have been the very first podcast that that I was on. So uh that was groundbreaking for me then. So appreciate it and super excited to be back on with you.
Well I'm happy to hear that uh I helped you break the ice and get your voice out there. So let's uh let's rock and roll. So for those uh that don't know you, for those that may not have heard that podcast, uh give us a sense of your your come up in the industry, how'd you get started and what exactly are you doing now?
Yeah. Um well, I I was a financial adviser. I'm 56 years old today. Um I was a financial adviser for about 25 years. Um, and it was nothing really innovative in my role as an owner of an RAA, you know, typical wealth management firm. However, we did do uh nine acquisitions as an owner and this was, you know, gosh, almost 20 years ago.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- wealth management m&a
- ria mergers
- rising interest rates
- ai disruption to advisory
- deal compatibility vs auction model
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Allaris Acquisitions
Watch the episode
Watch “Navigating the Rapidly Evolving M&A Landscape with Allen Darby” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Model Fa Podcast, this episode and its artwork belong to David DeCelle. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
