.png)
Published on https://www.advisorpedia.com/ on 10/09/2025 by Douglas Heikkinen
The Matchmakers of Wealth Management: How Alaris Is Transforming the Advisor Deal Process
- Advisor Solutions Marketplace
- Douglas Heikkinen
- The Matchmakers of Wealth Management: How Alaris Is Transforming the Advisor Deal Process
- Oct 09, 2025
At the 2025 Future Proof Festival, Jacqueline Martinez, Managing Partner of Alaris Acquisitions, shared how her firm is transforming the way advisors approach mergers, acquisitions, and succession. With four years of rapid growth and more than 50 completed transactions, Alaris is carving out a distinctive path in a space long dominated by financial auctions and impersonal deal-making.
What sets Alaris apart is the team’s deep experience in both buy-side and sell-side advisory—and a commitment to reshaping the process around fit and partnership, rather than just price.
From United Capital to Alaris: Redefining the Playbook
Martinez’s journey in wealth management M&A began at United Capital, where she and Alaris CEO Alan Darby spent years refining their craft. “Alan and I worked together for many years at United Capital,” she recalled. “He was sourcing deals, and I was on the internal M&A team working with a lot of sell-side advisors.”
That experience would later shape how they built Alaris. “When we decided to go into business together as Alaris,” Martinez explained, “we were saying, what are the things that we really want to change? And that’s shaped our model today—where we are not leading with a financial auction, but really getting to know all of the buyers in the space and matching them based on compatibility.”
For advisors, that means the process feels much more relational and authentic. Alaris aims to create a matchmaking experience that prioritizes cultural alignment between buyers and sellers—a critical, but often overlooked, factor of long-term success.
“We think if you can agree on a lot of the hard things in a partnership,” Martinez said, “then leaving the cultural fit element to be experienced—with our process, they’re able to spend enough time to really figure that out.”
The Alaris Edge: Data, Technology, and Compatibility
While M&A advisory is a crowded field, Alaris has invested in technology to make its matchmaking approach truly scalable. Rather than just connecting advisors and buyers through traditional valuation-first methods, the firm’s platform uses proprietary data and structured buyer profiling to create more reliable matches.
“We’re the only M&A sell-side advisor that has invested in technology to support that matchmaking process at scale,” said Martinez. “We work with about 80 buyers, and each one has gone through extensive onboarding interviews so we can really understand what they want their partnerships to look like.”
This database allows Alaris to pair advisors with the buyers most likely to share their cultural values, operational philosophy, and business priorities—well before price negotiations even begin. The shift away from auctions and toward informed matching flips the standard industry model on its head.
“Our process is totally flipped,” Martinez emphasized. “We already know that you’re aligned on all of the key things. So we’re able to spend a lot of time really on the fit.”
Cutting Through the Noise with Data
One of the biggest challenges for advisors considering a sale is differentiating among potential buyers. In an ecosystem where firms often make similar promises, identifying which offers come with true operational support versus surface-level marketing can be daunting.
Martinez noted that this is where Alaris provides unique clarity. “It’s equally challenging to differentiate between the buyers as well, because everyone kind of says a lot of the same things,” she said. “Where we help cut through the noise is through data. For example, if it’s important to you to centralize financial planning for all of your clients, we can tell you exactly how many people a given national RIA has dedicated to that.”
By acting as a “data-driven guide” through the process, Alaris helps sellers make more confident decisions about who they’re merging with—and prevents costly misalignment post-close. “We kind of see ourselves as the Google of RIA M&A,” Martinez added.
Measurable Success and Happy Partnerships
Since its founding just over four years ago, Alaris has surpassed 50 successful transactions—a tangible indicator that its model works. But for Martinez, success isn’t measured only by volume; it’s measured by satisfaction on both sides of the deal.
“The proof for us that our model is working,” she said, “is that we have happy buyers and sellers for every transaction we’ve done. Sellers feel educated about the process, confident in their decisions, and buyers want to work with us again.”
That long-term perspective—ensuring deals feel right after the ink dries—is what keeps Alaris’s reputation growing among both acquirers and advisors seeking the right next chapter for their firms.
Looking Ahead: AI, Scale, and Industry Opportunity
The M&A tide in wealth management shows no sign of slowing. With advisor demographics trending older and more firms seeking succession plans, demand for guidance and deal expertise is only accelerating.
“The demographics really support that M&A will just continue to increase over the years,” Martinez said. “Even though we have more RIAs being established than sold every year, the industry as a whole continues to grow.”
At the same time, economic uncertainty and market cycles are prompting more advisors to explore sales while valuations remain strong. “Multiples are at an all-time high right now, but we don’t know what the future holds,” Martinez noted. “A lot of folks will want to explore a sale related to that.”
To stay ahead, Alaris is doubling down on technology. “We continue to invest heavily in AI to support our processes,” she explained. “The only way to really manage all of the knowledge we have on all of the buyers is through continuing to invest there.”
Leading with Values and Vision
For Martinez, building Alaris has been as much a personal journey as a professional one. After her time at United Capital and Goldman Sachs, moving into entrepreneurship was both exciting and overwhelming. “I’ll admit, the first year or so I thought I may be overcorrected a bit,” she said with a laugh. “I went from not making any decisions to making a lot of decisions every day.”
But with the support of her longtime business partner, she’s found the right rhythm. “We’ve been a great team for over a decade now,” Martinez said. “We’re having a lot of fun. We have an amazing team. The work we do is aligned with our values—it’s very rewarding. I love it.”
That blend of purpose and precision defines Alaris’s value to the industry. For financial advisors exploring their future, Martinez’s firm offers an alternative path—one rooted in understanding, ethics, and evidence.
“What I want advisors to take away from our work,” Martinez concluded, “is that it doesn’t need to be a trade-off between getting a great valuation and having the right cultural fit. With our process, we can really execute on both fronts. Buyers have more conviction when they feel like the firm is a great fit—and our process is built to make sure that fit is right.”
In an era where advisor M&A is surging and every decision carries lasting consequences, Alaris isn’t just facilitating deals—it’s shaping the future of how those deals are done. For advisors seeking not just a transaction, but a true partnership, Alaris may be redefining what excellence in M&A looks like.
Learn more about Alaris Acquisitions here.
https://www.advisorpedia.com/advisor-tools/the-matchmakers-of-wealth-management-how-alaris-is-transforming-the-advisor-deal-process/
.png)
