PE Investors Want a Client-Focused Advisory

Private equity investors have shown interest in various industry sectors, ranging from restaurant chains to New York City residential buildings—and financial service firms also have an allure.

Vidur Khatri, a principal at Abry Partners, a Boston-based private equity firm, shared his perspective Tuesday morning at the 2026 PLANADVISER 360 Conference in Orlando, Florida. In “Understanding Private Equity’s Interest in Advisory Firms,” Khatri said his firm focuses on the financial service sector.

“I spend most of my time … within law [practice] management, insurance services, retirement services [and] accountancies,” he said. “We come in to potentially partner with firms to either provide a solution, or capital to continue to grow the business. … We partner with companies, from anywhere between three to five to seven years.”

Khatri said, in private equity, the partnership is meant to elevate the client relationships that firms already have in place.

“It’s really about never losing that client-adviser relationship,” he said.

Green Flags—and Red Flags—for PE Buyers

Khatri noted some “green flags” that advisory firms could highlight, and red ones they might want to hide, to attract a potential private equity partnership.

First, Khatri said, he looks for clarity in relation to a firm’s succession strategy.

“It is very clear when you walk into a room and a business is for sale how well they’ve been prepared for sale,” he said.

Firms with identified second- and third-generation leadership teams tend to be more attractive investment opportunities because they demonstrate continuity beyond the founder, Khatri said.

He also pointed to durable client relationships; specialized expertise; and multiple avenues for growth, including technology investments, recruiting, and merger-and-acquisition dealmaking. “We love to come in and invest in businesses where there [are] multiple levers for growth—[where businesses are] continuing to invest in technology, continuing to recruit amazing talent to service clients better, and selectively look[ing] at M&A,” Khatri said. “M&A really grows the value of the business—makes it a better business versus just making it [a] bigger business.”

Another form of growth that can come with M&A, according to Khatri, is a firm’s ongoing focus on the convergence of retirement and wealth planning. As an example, he pointed to the time, three years ago, when his firm invested in Prime Capital Financial, a Kansas-based registered investment advisory that had a retirement and wealth planning practice.

He said Prime Capital showed a continued focus on investing more than just on increasing services such as wealth planning. He said Prime Capital was a fully integrated financial services firm with a well-thought-out wealth and retirement arm.

“The idea that retired advisory and…