Pre-close · Wealth Advisors & RIAs

Independent Sponsor Employment & Non-Compete Agreements in Wealth Advisors & RIAs

Independent sponsor counsel for wealth advisors and RIAs, focused on Employment & Non-Compete Agreements and the deal mechanics that protect sponsor economics and LP alignment.

EV range $10M to $180M EV EBITDA $3M to $25M Audience Buy-side / Sponsor
The deal context

An independent sponsor closing wealth advisors and RIAs transactions in the $10M to $180M EV range has a defined set of moves at the Employment & Non-Compete Agreements stage. Most of them are not in a generic M&A textbook.

The typical wealth advisors and RIAs platform sits at $10M to $180M EV with EBITDA in the $3M to $25M range. The thesis runs on RIA aggregation or wealth platform roll-up. Client consent process is the longest pole. Start it the day after the LOI signs.

The moves

How Employment & Non-Compete Agreements actually gets structured.

  1. Negotiate seller non-competes to the maximum enforceable scope, by state law.

  2. Refresh key employee restrictive covenants pre-close, where possible.

  3. Address the FTC non-compete rule and its state-by-state aftermath.

  4. Tie executive non-competes to retention bonus economics that survive a quick exit.

  5. In wealth advisors and RIAs, layer in negative consent process timed with regulators as part of the Employment & Non-Compete Agreements workstream.

The common mistake

Drafting a national-scope non-compete in California. Enforceability is a binary, not a spectrum.

Jason's take
"A non-compete is only as strong as the state it sits in. Draft for the state, not the deal."
Jason Powell · Employment & Non-Compete Agreements
Capital after close

The deal is one thing. The capital that opens up after close is another.

The capital that opens up post-close, from refinancing to growth equity to strategic exit, runs through a small set of Wall Street relationships. That network is built in.

MONTH 18
Senior refi
MONTH 24
Dividend recap
MONTH 36
Growth equity
YEAR 4–5
Strategic exit
TALK TO JASON

An LOI on the desk, a wealth advisors and RIAs target, and a Employment & Non-Compete Agreements question worth a real conversation.

Twenty minutes of practitioner-grade input from a securities attorney whose first move is to read the deal, not the engagement letter.