Wealthtech Valuations: Q3 2026
Wealthtech does not trade at one multiple, it trades on one question: whether revenue accrues as a fee on assets administered or as a licence sold to whoever administers them. Windsor Drake's ten-company comparable set carries a median 4.6x EV/Revenue at the 21 August 2026 close, computed from market capitalisation and reported balance sheets. Companies paid a toll on assets clear 12.5x against 3.9x for companies selling software to them. The same split repeats in private markets, where advice platforms capitalise at 2.3% to 4.6% of client assets and brokerage platforms at under 1%. Introduces The Platform Toll.
- Sector
- Fintech
- Focus
- Valuations
- Published
- August 24, 2026
- Length
- 23 slides
- Reading time
- 19 minutes
Slide deck
23-slide deck. Desktop readers can page through the embedded viewer below. Mobile readers can open the direct PDF link.
Open slide deck PDF Key findings
- Composite wealthtech EV/Revenue is 4.6x across ten constituents, interquartile range 3.2x to 6.4x, full range 2.5x to 14.3x.
- Companies paid a fee on assets administered clear a 12.5x median; companies selling licences to them clear 3.9x, a spread of roughly three times.
- Growth sets the level inside the toll cohort: Netwealth at 14.3x and HUB24 at 12.5x grew 24.7% and 23.2%, while SEI Investments grew 14.7% and clears 5.2x.
- Advice platforms capitalised at 2.3% to 4.6% of client assets on disclosed terms, and brokerage platforms at 0.95%, a five-fold spread tracking proximity to the client relationship.
- Disclosed RIA platform transactions cleared 21.3x and a nominal 22.5x EBITDA, consistent with PitchBook's mid-teens to low-twenties consolidator band.
- Wealthfront clears 2.6x with 76% of revenue from cash management, and trades 34% below its December 2025 IPO price.
- Fidelity Institutional recorded 276 completed RIA transactions in 2025 moving $796.4bn of purchased assets, with 88% backed by private equity.
- Ten of the 44 wealthtech transactions in the Windsor Drake Exit Index carry a disclosed value, so the comparable set a seller builds is the benchmark that frames the negotiation.
Methodology
Framework: The Platform Toll. All multiples are Windsor Drake's own computation from primary market data, not licensed from a vendor: enterprise value equals market capitalisation plus total debt less cash and short-term investments, using closing prices of 21 August 2026 and reported balance sheets at 30 June 2026 for eight of the ten constituents, with revenue taken from each company's most recently reported trailing twelve months or full year and the period stated beside each constituent. Non-US figures are converted at Bank of England spot rates of 21 August 2026. Custodians and brokers are analysed on reported operating metrics rather than enterprise value because client money on the balance sheet makes enterprise value the wrong measure of capital structure. RIA transaction benchmarks are computed from consideration disclosed by the parties in company announcements and regulatory filings. The Windsor Drake Exit Index holds 521 transactions; the wealthtech cohort is 44 after deduplication on target, acquirer and announcement month.
Frequently asked questions
What multiple do wealthtech companies trade at in 2026?
Windsor Drake's ten-company public comparable set carries a median 4.6x EV/Revenue at the 21 August 2026 close, with an interquartile range of 3.2x to 6.4x and a full range of 2.5x to 14.3x. The composite is wide because the set contains two different business models priced on different logic.
Why do wealth platforms trade above wealth software vendors?
Platform operators earn a fee on every dollar administered, so revenue compounds with the client's assets and with market performance without a new sale. Software vendors earn a licence and must resell it. The toll cohort clears a 12.5x median against 3.9x for the licence cohort, a spread of roughly three times.
What are RIAs selling for in 2026?
Disclosed transactions in scaled wealth management cleared 21x to 22x EBITDA: Aon's NFP wealth business at approximately 21.3x on $2.7 billion, and Commonwealth Financial Network at a nominal 22.5x on approximately $2.7 billion. PitchBook places consolidator platforms in a mid-teens to low-twenties EBITDA band.
How much of client assets does an RIA sell for?
Computed from disclosed consideration, advice platforms have capitalised at 2.3% to 4.6% of client assets: Fisher Investments at 4.6% on a $12.75 billion valuation, Wealth Enhancement Group at a reported 4.4%, and CI Financial's Corient at 2.3%. Brokerage and clearing platforms clear under 1%, with Commonwealth at 0.95%.
Who is buying wealthtech and RIA businesses?
Repeat acquirers backed by private equity. Fidelity Institutional counted 276 completed RIA transactions in 2025 across 102 unique buyers, with 88% of deals backed by a sponsor and the entire leading-20 acquirer cohort sponsor-backed. In the Windsor Drake Exit Index, 43 of 44 wealthtech transactions had a strategic acquirer.
Is the wealthtech listing window open?
The general window is wide and the sector window is not. US issuers raised approximately $114.2 billion across 65 traditional IPOs in the first half of 2026, against $14.8 billion in the first half of 2025, and roughly 97% opened above offer. Wealthfront, the sector's flagship listing, closed its debut up 1.4% and trades 34% below its December 2025 IPO price.
What is driving wealthtech demand in 2026?
Alternatives distribution and adviser capacity. US retail capital flowing into alternative structures reached $204 billion in 2025 from $92 billion in 2023, semiliquid fund assets approached $600 billion at 31 March 2026, and Cerulli projects roughly 26,000 adviser retirements over the decade against $3.9 trillion of assets expected to change hands.
Companies covered
Public and private companies referenced in this report.
Download the deliverables
If you are evaluating a sale
Windsor Drake is a sell-side only M&A advisory firm for founder-led software, fintech, and technology companies with enterprise values between $5 million and $300 million. This research comes from the same desk that runs our sale processes. If you are weighing an exit in this market, a confidential valuation is the place to start: no obligation, senior attention, and a view grounded in the transactions this report tracks.
Windsor Drake’s fintech, payments, and financial services practice is advised by Bruce Goldstein, a FINRA registered investment banking professional with twenty-five years in financial services, formerly of KBW, Sandler O’Neill and Milestone Advisors.
Cite this report
Wealthtech Valuations: Q3 2026. Windsor Drake Market Intelligence, 2026. windsordrake.com/market-intelligence/reports/wealthtech-valuations-q3-2026. Windsor Drake Market Intelligence data is free to use with attribution to Windsor Drake (windsordrake.com).