How a $1.3B Nebraska RIA sidestepped the succession trap
What's the deal? Former RBCDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → advisor Tim McEwan took a 47% stake in Nebraska-based registered investment advisory firm Prairie Wealth AdvisorsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, merging his team, The McEwan GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, into the firm led by chief executive officer Craig Hundt. The undisclosed May 2026 transaction added $400 million in assets under management and $200 million in 401(k) plan assets, lifting Prairie's client holdings to $1.3 billion. Hundt owns the remaining 53%.
Why now? Conversations began nine years ago and grew serious over the four years before the May 2026 transaction as Hundt, a 39-year industry veteran and Prairie's founder, weighed retirement. McEwan is now the firm's president.
What's the endgame? The deal offered a third option beyond the usual choice of passing a firm to an internal successor or selling to a private equity-backed buyer. There is no fixed timeline for the succession, which both men describe as "fluid."
McEwan said the process stemmed from Hundt's "really strong desire to have the firm live beyond him," but only "if and when he decides to slow down."
What's changed? The combined firm has already hired three employees, including a chief investment officer and a director of compliance and governance. Hundt, who earlier in 2026 thought he would be "done in two years," said his former colleagues' struggle to retain clients revived his appetite for growth.
"It brought out my animal spirits, so now all of a sudden I've become competitive again," Hundt said, pointing to a "much deeper bench" and added 401(k) business. "I've got more arrows in my quiver."
The signal: More than 100,000 financial advisors managing nearly $15 trillion in client assets are heading toward retirement. Their exits will play out in a wave of deals like this one, as founders search for succession paths that avoid selling out entirely.
Read more: Yahoo Finance
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