BlackRock will soon own a $30 billion RIA rollup (through a manager's fund) that has grown 500% since 2020 mostly by M&A, and could now ramp up
The New York City mega manager is buying an alts manager with a fund with a stake in Lido Advisors -- a deal within deal as it edges toward wealth management.
3 min readBlackRock is getting a horse into the RIA race – a lightning-fast one with plenty of room to roam, albeit indirectly.
The $11.5-trillion asset manager will soon own a fund that holds a majority stake in Lido Advisors, a Los Angeles RIA rollup with $30 billion in assets under management, up from $5.3 billion at the beginning of 2020 – a nearly 500% leap in size.
BlackRock is buying HPS Investment Partners for $12 billion in an all-stock deal. At the time of its December deal announcement, Lido was not part of the transaction. HPS announced its Lido purchase on May 21.
A Barron's article revealed that HPS owns a majority stake in Lido.
BlackRock has typically stayed away from the wealth channel and stayed within its core expertise to avoid conflicts.
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But as competitors swerved into its lane, BlackRock changed the calculus in the minds of some analysts with the head-swiveling retail board appointments of Kathleen Murphy and Greg Fleming, both former retail/wealth heads at Fidelity Investments and Morgan Stanley, respectively. See: BlackRock adds Fidelity's retail legend and Morgan Stanley ex-retail chief, sparking belief Larry Fink is eyeing wealth channel.
“The risk profile has shifted in BlackRock's favor,” said Will Trout, director of securities and investments at Boston consultancy Datos Insights, in an April RIABiz interview.
“The timing parallels Fidelity's successful expansion into retail and Schwab's wealth management growth," he added.
“BlackRock appears to be increasingly willing to accept channel conflict ... [with] a strategic calculation that the benefits outweigh the risks.”
Growth trajectory
Story Timeline
BlackRock's purchase of Lido has gone largely under the radar because it is part of a package deal that includes HPS Investment Partners, which has $148 billion of AUM, entirely in private credit.
Lido sold a majority stake to investment funds managed by HPS Investment Partners, a global alternative investment firm. BlackRock signed an agreement to acquire HPS in Dec. 2024. That deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2025.
BlackRock adds Fidelity's retail legend and Morgan Stanley ex-retail chief, sparking belief Larry Fink is eyeing wealth channel
“Lido’s success has been a true team effort,” said Lido CEO Jason Ozur in a release.
"I’m especially happy for our more than 135 employee-owners, many of whom joined us through mergers, believing in our mission and growth trajectory.
The HPS deal provided a liquidity event for Lido's employee/owners, who bought a $20 million stake last year.
"Seeing their commitment rewarded is one of the most fulfilling parts of this journey,” Ozur added.
Competing bids
HPS beat out Bain Capital and the Carlyle Group in the bidding for Lido. Charlesbank Capital Partners and 135 Lido employees still hold minority stakes, Citywire reports. See: Charlesbank bets bank on Joe Duran.
Charlesbank will stick with its Lido partnership, according to Charlesbank Managing Director and CEO Michael Choe.
“Lido’s growth has been extraordinary, and we want to congratulate Jason, Ken, and the entire Lido team on their accomplishments,” he said in the release. “We are pleased to welcome HPS as Lido begins this new chapter.”
Lido on May 1 reported that it is buying and integrating Copperwynd, a $720 million RIA in Scottsdale, Ariz. It has consistently done multiple deals annually for several years.
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