How Dynasty’s Investment Bank Model Is Shaping Up

As the Florida-headquartered wealth management group has evolved, and developed an investment banking function as it works with its network of RIA firms, this publication recently spoke to the firm about how this side of the business works, the strategy and challenges.

A month ago, while many Family Wealth Report readers
might have taken a well-deserved break, St Petersburg,
Florida-headquartered Dynasty
Financial Partners continued a busy schedule that seems
embedded in its business DNA. The firm
agreed with Abacus Global Management to make minority
investments in each other. 

Entering into swap transactions of minority stakes and financing
advisory firms to better align with client success – and
hopefully share in the financial rewards – has been a feature of
Dynasty’s business model. It has also been developing its
investment banking business,
launched in May 2023.

“Advisors know that being on the Dynasty platform appeals to
private equity shops looking to invest capital in the space
because our network partner firms generally grow faster and have
better margins,” Sam Anderson, co-head of Dynasty Investment
Bank, a unit within the Dynasty group, told FWR in a
recent call.

“In many instances, private equity buyers [of RIAs] are
increasingly finding that if a firm is on our platform, it is
much more investible. We can create better margins, allow for
higher growth and provide cutting edge technology and data for
that [RIA] business,” Anderson said. “There’s a premium for
buyers of firms on our platform that is real.” Dynasty has a
network of RIAs including multi-family office platforms,
representing 57 firms in total, and more than $120 billion in
platform assets.

Anderson was appointed to his role at Dynasty in March, alongside
Harris Baltch. Before joining Dynasty, they worked at Goldman
Sachs and UBS, respectively. During their three years at Dynasty,
the duo have collaborated on deals on behalf of the Dynasty
Network.

This is clearly a field that Anderson relishes. Much of the
“so-what?” of making investments and RIA transactions succeed
is that RIAs obtain the tools they need to serve clients and
run profitable businesses, Anderson said. With AI and other
technologies becoming important budget line items, that’s
important. 

March was a big month for Dynasty: It announced a
collaboration with Goldman Sachs. Goldman Sachs Custody
Solutions is one of the firm’s preferred custodians
of Dynasty’s independent RIA network alongside of
Schwab, Fidelity, and Pershing. “This adds to our clients’
ability to access institutional quality product and service for
independent RIAs,” Anderson said. “Institutions see this [wealth
sector] as a big opportunity and Dynasty makes it easy for RIAs
to access these products and services within an integrated open
architecture technology enabled delivery platform.”

As noted by FWR before, there’s a squeeze on the number
of advisors in the US, so they need all the technological help
they can get. “The pool of high-quality advisors has shrunk,” he
said. “Increasingly, we find that independent RIAs are training
[people] in-house, developing their own talent and giving [staff]
equity in a firm.”

Investment banking model

The investment banking side of Dynasty has the advantage over
others, Anderson said, from the operational experience the group
has gained in working with wealth managers over the last 15
years. “We have gained a deep understanding of their needs,” he
said. Also, the bank – operating under a “merchant banking” model
– does not only look after RIAs that are in the Dynasty
network, Anderson said.

“In the RIA system…we are unique, and we know the business well
from an operating perspective. The level of due diligence [that
can be done] is unmatched,” he said.

“We have a great set of tools to know how firms are set up, and
how their technology works together. And we have a balance
sheet,” he continued, adding: “We are in the unique position to
also provide capital from our balance sheet to help clients
complete transactions in a number of creative ways. However, we
are not aggregators or buyer of RIAs, we provide accommodative
solution-based capital to help clients.”

Dynasty’s approach to loans for RIA clients has been
evolving. Back in 2021, US correspondent Charles Paikert spoke to
CEO Shirl Penney about the strategy. Penny said the firm offers
advisors cash for between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of the
firm’s revenues, with an option to buy it back after a few years.
M&A experts at the time told FWR that Dynasty’s
investment bank move was a logical extension of its model.

The private equity force

Dynasty has been riding a rising elevator. Strategic platforms,
such as RIA platforms and consolidators, have been big M&A
players. Private equity money is significant. While private
equity deal volume dipped slightly in Q2 compared with Q1, the
average deal size surged from $36.1 billion to $59.3 billion –
suggesting a shift in strategy toward fewer but larger
transactions,
according to ECHELON Partners in July this year. There were
22 direct private equity investments in the first half of 2025,
matching the pace of 2024, that report said. Private
equity-sponsored deals reached 144 transactions year-to-date,
putting 2025 on track to exceed last year’s all-time high of 215
transactions. Despite the short-term decline in volume, the
longer-term trajectory remains upward.

While not everyone thinks private equity is the ideal suitor for
wealth management – although much depends on structure, employee
alignment and timeframe – Anderson said the industry has
certainly been a “force for change for a long period of time.”

It is easy to see why private equity likes wealth management,
given the multi-trillion-dollar wealth transfer, continued
entrepreneurial wealth creation, and the fact that the sector is
not capital-intensive relative to areas such as manufacturing.

The move by advisors to break away from banks and wirehouses to
form RIAs shows a continued desire for independence, a force that
end clients appreciate, and custodian firms are also dialed into
this, Anderson said. “People are more comfortable going to an
independent firm.”

“We like situations where we are in full alignment with our
clients and it is a win-win from that perspective,” he said 
“The important point is that we support independence and the
success of these business owners.”