What a minority stake is
In a minority deal, an outside investor buys less than a controlling share of the firm and the existing owners keep running it. DeVoe & Company notes that minority capital is increasingly used to support growth, succession planning and acquisition capacity, and that these structures allow founders to stay in leadership roles. [2]
How common they are
Minority stakes made up 14% of all RIA transactions in 2025, by DeVoe's count. [2] In the first quarter of 2026, minority transactions were 15% of total RIA deal activity, 14 deals, according to DeVoe data reported by InvestmentNews. [1] Private capital is active across the market: Echelon Partners reports that private equity-backed acquirers completed 91 of the 120 RIA transactions in the second quarter of 2026. [3]
Control is more than a percentage
DeVoe cautions that minority sales are often structured to reward the first generation of owners at the expense of the next, can come with strings attached, and can result in a loss of control. [2] InvestmentNews reports the same point from DeVoe: ownership percentage does not equal control, because governance rights, board seats and contract terms can give an investor substantial influence over acquisitions, leadership changes and future sales. [1]
The regulatory side
A transaction that does not change actual control or management of an adviser is not an assignment of its advisory contracts under SEC rules. [4] For Form ADV reporting, a person who has the right to vote 25 percent or more of a class of a corporation's voting securities is presumed to control it. [5] Whether a specific investment changes control is a legal question for counsel.
Several 2026 minority investments are listed, with their announcements, in the deal tracker.