ECHELON Partners

What ECHELON Partners does

ECHELON Partners (legal entity Echelon Capital, LLC) is a boutique investment bank founded in 2000 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, with a secondary office in San Diego. The firm is FINRA-registered as a broker-dealer and SIPC member, and serves exclusively the wealth and investment management industry. Its integrated platform comprises three service lines: Investment Banking (buy-side, sell-side, and merger M&A advisory plus management buyouts), Valuation Services (transaction valuations, succession/estate/gift planning valuations, equity compensation valuations, 409A valuations), and Strategic Consulting (growth planning, equity sharing program design, entity restructuring, leadership succession, M&A readiness, and capital structure advisory).

ECHELON's underlying technology stack is built around proprietary research and valuation databases, benchmarking tools, buyer scorecards, and legal frameworks that have been refined over 20+ years of vertical focus. The firm has conducted over 2,000 valuations for RIAs with $2MM+ in revenue and $300MM+ in AUM, completed more than 600 transactions with $750B+ in transacted assets, assessed over $25B+ in enterprise value, and produces award-winning quarterly and annual RIA M&A Deal Reports. Core products include Investment Banking, Valuation Services, Strategic Consulting, ECHELON Insights (thought leadership), the RIA M&A Deal Reports, and the annual Deals & Dealmakers Summit conference. Technology differentiators are domain specialization, data advantage, and customizability/configurability rather than a software product.

ECHELON's revenue model is fee-based professional services: M&A advisory generates success fees tied to transaction completion, valuation services are project-based, and strategic consulting is delivered through fixed engagement fees. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. Go-to-market is sales-led and event-driven, combining direct senior banker relationships, industry referrals, thought leadership content (research reports and articles), PR in financial publications (Wall Street Journal, InvestmentNews, WealthManagement.com), the annual Deals & Dealmakers Summit, email newsletters, and LinkedIn. Customer segments include independent RIA owners, executive board members of wealth managers, wirehouse breakaway advisors, product distributors (RIAs, broker-dealers, banks), product manufacturers (asset managers), and service providers (WealthTECH, TAMPs). The firm is founder/employee-owned with no external institutional shareholders and no funding rounds.

Name

ECHELON Partners

Legal name

Echelon Capital, LLC

Website

https://echelon-partners.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ECHELON Partners is a boutique investment bank providing M&A advisory, valuation, and strategic consulting exclusively to wealth and investment management firms, having completed 600+ transactions and $750 billion in transacted assets over 20+ years.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investment Banking Services

NAICS

Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150), Securities and Commodity Contracts Intermediation and Brokerage (5231)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Investment Advice (6282), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Capital Markets Advisory (IPO Readiness, SPAC, ECM/DCM Advisory) (BPAHAOAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Equity Capital Markets Advisory (Equity Issuance Strategy & Readiness) (FSACAAAI)

Keywords

• Wealth management advisory
• Investment banking services
• M&A advisory
• Business valuation services
• Strategic consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Manhattan Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Investment Banking Services: M&A advisory services including buy-side advisory, sell-side advisory, and merger advisory for wealth and asset management firms. Revenue is generated through professional services fees typically structured as success fees tied to transaction completion.
2. Valuation Services: Independent business valuations for RIAs, wealth managers, TAMPs, and WealthTECH companies. Services include transaction valuations, estate and gift planning valuations, equity compensation valuations, 409A valuations, and strategic planning valuations. Fees are project-based.
3. Strategic Consulting: Advisory engagements including strategic planning, equity sharing program design, entity restructuring, leadership succession, M&A readiness, and capital structure advisory. Revenue generated through consulting engagement fees.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ECHELON Partners is a boutique investment bank delivering M&A advisory, business valuation, and strategic consulting services exclusively to wealth and investment management firms. The firm sells an integrated advisory platform that supports buy-side and sell-side transactions, mergers, succession and ownership transitions, and capital structure decisions. ECHELON also operates an annual Deals & Dealmakers Summit and publishes recurring industry research such as RIA M&A Deal Reports.

Product overview

ECHELON Partners operates as a boutique investment bank providing an integrated platform of services to the wealth and investment management industry. The core offering comprises Investment Banking (M&A advisory services including sell-side, buy-side, and merger advisory), Valuation Services (strategic valuation for transactions, succession, and equity compensation), and Strategic Consulting (growth planning, equity sharing programs, and leadership succession). Supporting these core services are ECHELON Insights (thought leadership publications) and the ECHELON RIA M&A Deal Reports (quarterly and annual industry research reports), along with the annual Deals & Dealmakers Summit conference. This unified platform enables clients to access end-to-end advisory services from preparation through execution.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Investment Banking M&A advisory services for wealth and investment management firms, including sell-side advisory, buy-side advisory, merger advisory, and management buyouts. Engagements are tailored to entrepreneurial leaders at pivotal transaction moments.
• Valuation Services Independent business valuations for RIAs, wealth managers, TAMPs, and WealthTECH companies. Covers transaction valuations, estate and gift planning valuations, equity compensation valuations, 409A valuations, and strategic planning valuations.
• Strategic Consulting Strategic advisory services for wealth management firms covering growth planning, equity sharing program design, entity restructuring, leadership succession, M&A readiness, and capital structure advisory.
• Deals & Dealmakers Summit Annual industry conference for wealth management M&A featuring expert panels, networking sessions, and pre-conference workshops; serves as ECHELON's flagship client engagement and thought leadership event.
• ECHELON RIA M&A Deal Reports Quarterly and annual deal reports tracking RIA M&A activity, transaction volumes, transacted AUM, and industry consolidation trends; recognized as the authoritative source on transaction trends in the independent wealth space.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over $750 billion in transacted assets across advisory engagements
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles6 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Deals & Dealmakers Summit SponsorscoreOthers · 1 September 2026The annual Deals & Dealmakers Summit features various sponsorship tiers including Platinum (Charles Schwab, Goldman Sachs), Gold (Ficomm Partners, Wintrust Commercial Banking, Oak Street Funding), Silver (Prime Capital Financial, PPC Loan, Carson Group, Buchalter), and Bronze (Warner, Cerulli Associates, Fidelity) sponsors. These sponsorships support the premier wealth management M&A conference.
• Ritz-Carlton Laguna NiguelminorOthersVenue partner for the annual Deals & Dealmakers Summit conference, held September 1-3, 2026 at the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, California.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Commonwealth M&A Advisors: Wealth management M&A advisory practice serving breakaway advisors and RIA sellers. Comparable to ECHELON's buy-side and breakaway advisory work and target segment of independent advisors seeking transition events.
• RFA (Richards, Finlay & Associates): RIA M&A advisor serving independent advisors with succession, transition, and acquisition services. Closely aligned with ECHELON in deal type, client persona, and event-driven engagement model.
• DeVoe & Company: Boutique investment bank focused exclusively on RIA and wealth management M&A. Directly comparable to ECHELON in vertical specialization, deal size profile, and target client base of independent advisor-owners.

Emerging players

• Cerity Partners: Fast-growing RIA platform that has been an active acquirer in transactions where ECHELON has advised (e.g., Daintree Advisors). Comparable as both a potential buyer counterparty and a consolidator benchmark.
• Mariner Wealth Advisors: Large RIA consolidator that is both a buyer in transactions ECHELON advises on and a competitor for senior talent. Useful comp for the buyer-side of ECHELON's M&A pipeline and for enterprise-value benchmarks in the space.

Broad incumbents

• Stifel Financial: Diversified investment bank with a Financial Institutions Group that has historically covered wealth management and RIA M&A. Competes with ECHELON for sell-side RIA mandates and broader wealth management advisory work.
• Piper Sandler: Diversified investment bank with an active Financial Institutions Group covering wealth management M&A. Overlaps with ECHELON on RIA and asset manager M&A, especially on mid- and large-cap transactions.
• Lazard: Global investment bank with a Financial Institutions practice covering asset and wealth managers. Represents the upper end of the competitive set that ECHELON faces for the largest, most complex wealth management M&A mandates.
• Houlihan Lokey: Large global investment bank with a Financial Institutions Group covering wealth and asset management M&A. Represents a broader incumbent competing for larger RIA and asset manager mandates that may be out of ECHELON's reach.
• Alex. Brown (Division of Raymond James): Raymond James' Private Capital Group serving wealth management and RIA M&A. Overlaps with ECHELON in target client base and in middle-market RIA and asset manager transaction work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/echelon-partners
• Xx.com/echelon_group

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ECHELON Partners