Alaris Aquisitions

What Alaris Aquisitions does

Alaris Acquisitions is a privately held sell-side M&A advisory firm headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, founded in 2012 and operating at 1-10 employees. The firm exclusively serves the wealth management industry with a focus on Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), advising owners and founders on sales, mergers, succession planning, and partner selection. Alaris reports 100+ closed acquisitions with $2B+ in aggregate seller valuation proceeds, a roster of 75+ pre-vetted buyers, and a claimed zero break-up rate across matched transactions, with the 2024-2025 period producing roughly 60 deals per year.

The firm's core technology is the Lens AI-driven matchmaking platform, which processes structured firm data (AUM, employee count, CRD number, location, fee model, custodian, services) together with on-site interview inputs to score buyer-seller compatibility across cultural, valuation, and operational dimensions. This is paired with a Buyer Portal that gives sellers self-serve access to the curated buyer catalog, plus a free RIA Firm Valuation Calculator tied to a proprietary benchmarking dataset built on the firm's closed-deal history. Adjacent products include the Buyer's Boardroom podcast (hosted by CEO Allen Darby and Managing Partner Jacqueline Martinez), positioned as a thought-leadership and top-of-funnel demand-generation channel, and Deal Advocacy, the high-touch advisory service that executes the match.

Alaris operates a hybrid GTM combining direct enterprise advisory sales with a product-led, digital-first motion through Lens. Pricing is freemium at the entry point (instant valuation and buyer exploration) and quote-based for full-service transaction engagement, with revenue generated from M&A advisory transaction fees and platform/technology access. Customer concentration is split between RIA owners/founders as primary sellers and wealth management acquirers as repeat buyer clients; the advisory leadership comprises founder/management ownership with no disclosed institutional or venture capital backing. Recent strategic activity in 2026 — including the launch of Lens and the Buyer Portal, the addition of Tony Leonard as Managing Director of Business Development, and sustained public positioning around AI-enabled cultural-fit matching — indicates an explicit shift from pure advisory toward a scaled, technology-enabled M&A marketplace.

Name

Alaris Aquisitions

Legal name

Alaris Acquisitions, LLC

Website

https://alarisacquisitions.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Alaris Acquisitions is a Charlotte-based sell-side M&A advisory firm serving wealth management, specializing in Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) mergers, sales, and succession planning. Its AI-driven Lens platform matches sellers with 75+ pre-vetted buyers based on cultural compatibility and valuation alignment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wealth Management M&A Advisory

NAICS

Web Search Portals, Libraries, Archives, and Other Information Services (519)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

M&A Advisory (Buy-Side & Sell-Side) (BPAHAOAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

M&A / Corporate Finance Finders (Deal Origination) (FSAEAMAD), Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs) (BPAHAOAG)

Keywords

• Sell-side M&A advisory
• Wealth management M&A
• RIA mergers acquisitions
• Transaction advisory services
• Buyer matchmaking platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. M&A Advisory Fees: Alaris generates revenue through M&A advisory services for sellers (RIA owners looking to sell or merge their firms). The firm provides deal advocacy, matchmaking, and transaction support throughout the M&A process.
2. Technology Platform Access: Revenue generated from the Lens platform which provides valuation tools, buyer matching services, and access to the buyer roster database.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Alaris Acquisitions is a sell-side M&A advisory firm dedicated to the wealth management industry that helps Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) owners sell, merge, or transition their firms. The firm's core offering pairs human deal advocacy with its proprietary AI-driven Lens matchmaking platform, which evaluates cultural compatibility, vision alignment, valuation fit, and operational compatibility across a curated roster of 75+ pre-vetted buyers. Supporting components include a free instant RIA valuation calculator and a self-serve Buyer Portal, and the firm reports having closed 100+ RIA acquisitions totaling over $2B in seller valuation proceeds with a zero break-up rate.

Product overview

Alaris Acquisitions operates as a sell-side M&A advisory firm serving the Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) industry, combining a structured deal advocacy process with technology-enabled matchmaking. The core offering centers on the Lens AI-driven matchmaking platform, which is paired with a Buyer Portal that gives sellers access to 75+ pre-vetted buyers. The RIA Firm Valuation Calculator serves as the entry point, providing free preliminary valuations to attract sellers into the Lens ecosystem. The Buyer's Boardroom podcast rounds out the portfolio as an educational content channel. Together these products form an integrated marketplace where sellers can assess their valuation, explore buyer models, and get matched with culturally aligned acquirers with deal advocacy support throughout the transaction.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Lens: AI-driven matchmaking platform that matches buyers and sellers in RIA M&A transactions based on cultural compatibility, using data analysis including on-site interviews to improve deal outcomes and reduce post-acquisition friction.

Products and services

• Lens AI-driven matchmaking platform that matches Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) sellers with buyers by evaluating cultural compatibility, valuation alignment, and operational fit. The platform analyzes data points including on-site interviews and uses a proprietary catalog of buyer models to generate match confidence scores.
• Buyer Portal Digital self-serve portal that enables RIA sellers to explore a roster of 75+ pre-vetted buyers, filter by fee model, AUM, custodians, acquisitions model, and expanded services offered, and initiate connections for M&A transactions.
• RIA Firm Valuation Calculator Free instant valuation tool that provides RIA owners with a preliminary estimate of their firm's market value, benchmarked against 100+ closed RIA transactions totaling over $2B in valuations. Used as the entry point into the Lens account onboarding flow.
• The Alaris Process (Deal Advocacy) Sell-side M&A advisory service in which Alaris acts as deal advocate on behalf of RIA sellers, balancing seller economics against buyer cultural fit. Includes deal structuring guidance, access to the curated buyer roster, valuation support, and post-acquisition integration assistance.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100+ closed acquisitions with $2B+ in seller valuation proceeds
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Echelon Partners: Echelon Partners is a sell-side M&A and consulting advisor dedicated to the RIA, wealth management, and independent broker-dealer space. It competes head-to-head with Alaris on sell-side mandates for RIA founders and operates a similarly relationship-driven deal advocacy model.
• DeVoe & Company: DeVoe & Company is an M&A and strategic consulting firm focused exclusively on the RIA industry, advising on mergers, acquisitions, succession planning, and valuations. It is a direct competitor to Alaris, serving the same RIA owner segment with comparable advisory services.
• FP Transitions: FP Transitions provides M&A advisory, valuation, and succession planning services to financial advisors and RIA firms. It competes with Alaris in sell-side mandates and shares a similar focus on education-driven client acquisition and advisor-owner transitions.

Broad incumbents

• Focus Financial Partners: Focus Financial Partners is one of the largest RIA consolidators, acquiring independent advisor firms across the country. As a major buyer of RIA firms on Alaris's roster (and broader marketplace), it shapes the demand side of the same M&A ecosystem Alaris intermediates on the sell side.
• Houlihan Lokey: Houlihan Lokey is a global investment bank with a dedicated Financial Services M&A practice that advises wealth and asset management firms. While broader than Alaris, it competes for larger RIA and wealth-management sell-side mandates and represents an incumbent alternative for high-end advisors.
• Cetera Financial Group: Cetera is a large wealth management firm that acquires and partners with RIAs and independent advisors. As an active acquirer on the Alaris roster, it is both a customer/buyer relationship for Alaris and a competing point-of-sale for RIA owners evaluating exit options.
• LPL Financial: LPL Financial is the largest independent broker-dealer and RIA custodian in the U.S., with active recruitment and acquisition programs targeting independent advisors. It competes with Alaris at the intersection of custody, technology, and M&A advisory for RIA sellers.

Others

• Beacon Pointe Advisors: Beacon Pointe Advisors is a national wealth management firm and active RIA acquirer, and is a documented buyer partner of Alaris (acquired Marc Wolff's firm). It is a customer-side peer shaping demand for Alaris-sourced sell-side mandates rather than a direct competitor.
• Allworth Financial: Allworth Financial is an RIA and wealth management consolidator and is documented as an Alaris buyer partner (acquired John Horseman's firm). It represents the buyer-side counterpart in Alaris's marketplace and an indicator of acquirer demand for Alaris-originated targets.
• Modern Wealth Management: Modern Wealth Management is a growing RIA acquirer and is documented as an Alaris buyer partner (acquired Dean Barber's firm). As an active buyer on Alaris's roster, it is an ecosystem participant in the same RIA M&A flow rather than a competing advisor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/alarisacq
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@alarisacquisitions
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/alaris-acquisitions/mycompany

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Alaris Aquisitions