Independent Advisor Business Lending

Independent Advisors & Firms

We work with Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs), Investment Advisor Representatives (IARs), Registered Representatives at Independent Broker-Dealers (IBDs), and dually registered firms. Whether you’re a CFP, CPA, or other certified professional, if you’re in the wealth management industry and need a business loan, AdvisorLoans is your first call. As a lending leader across RIA and IBD channels, we bring deep expertise in nearly every advisor business model, guiding you through financing acquisitions, partner buyouts, expansions, and succession with both conventional and SBA loan options.

Loans < $250,000

We know some banks act like they’re doing you a favor by considering small loans under $250,000. While our average loan exceeds $1 million, we support every advisor in need, securing loans as low as $100,000 with the same care and expertise.

Next-Gen Advisors

We love fueling the growth of next-gen advisors. There are multiple financing paths which can align with your goals, and we’ll invest time to help you now or position you for future funding. With $100,000 in 1099 revenue, you might qualify for over $1 million in an acquisition loan. Give us a call—you’ll feel our commitment from the start.

Selling Advisors

We consult with advisors selling their book or practice, pre-qualifying buyers for financing, assessing how loans impact deal structures, and crafting succession financing strategies for your son, daughter, or team member. We help you prepare financials for a sale, ensuring buyers can secure funding.

Our Seller LoanAbility Analysis evaluates your book or practice’s financials and cash flow, showing if your target price can be 100% bank-financed or if buyer cash or seller financing is needed. Providing buyers with this analysis, especially first-timers, boosts confidence and eases their financing journey.

AdvisorLoans pioneered the Loan Advisor to Financial Advisor model a decade ago, and referrals drive our growth. One-third of our clients come from corporate or field leaders at custodians and IBDs like Schwab, Ameriprise, LPL, Raymond James, Cetera, and dozens of other IBDs and OSJs. Another third are referred by one of the hundreds of former advisor clients we’ve funded. The final third find us online. Our trusted referral network and brand recognition mean we don’t advertise, cold-call, or spam—advisors come to us organically.

Advisor Buyers & Aspiring Aggregators

With hundreds of acquisition loans closed in RIA and IBD channels, AdvisorLoans blends niche expertise and experience to inspire confidence from our first chat. We’re loan advisors for financial advisors, not bank loan officers offering proprietary products and policies. AdvisorLoans has an open architecture of programs, loan types and lenders.

Start smart by getting pre-qualified before making offers you might not qualify for or with terms incompatible with your loan program (SBA or conventional). Our pre-qualification process provides a candid assessment of loan types and amounts you qualify for, plus payment term guardrails to consider. When eyeing a book or practice, bring us in early to spot financing red flags. Before sending a Letter of Intent (LOI), we offer a free review to ensure it aligns with your pre-qualification and financing likelihood.

W2 Advisors

We specialize in financing W2 advisors acquiring a book, equity, or entire practice. From strategy to structuring to funding, we know how to close W2 advisor loans with precision.

FINANCING CONSIDERATIONS

If the acquisition needs bank financing, then if it can’t get financed, what’s the point of everything else?

Address Financing Before Solidifying Deal Terms

If external financing will be required for the advisor acquisition then the deal must match bank requirements, not the other way around. Acquisition deals can implode in the end when lending due diligence isn’t done in the beginning. If the acquisition deal or structure can’t get financed, what’s the point of everything else?

This scenario plays out regularly in the industry: Buyer and seller have already worked out the acquisition deal structure and terms, hired a lawyer to develop the purchase agreement, paid for a business valuation, and set the closing date. Then, after all that time, money and effort was spent, they look into the financing only to find out that the deal can’t be financed at all, or that it needs to be re-structured in order to comply with the financing option or lender the buying advisor qualifies for and with.

If external financing will be needed for the acquisition deal to close, then external financing becomes one of the most important aspects of the acquisition deal. Buyers getting pre-qualified at the beginning of the process is critical for both buyer and seller.

External financing will heavily influence the acquisition terms and structure. External financing will dictate requirements around loan amount, cash injection requirements, promissory note amount, type and structure, closing timeline, retention provisions, and more.

Financing Touches Everything

For an acquisition loan the lender touches about every aspect of the deal. Borrower qualification, loan amount, deal and payment structures, down payments, seller financing and seller note standby and subordination, purchase agreement, collateral, business valuations, insurance, and lien requirements, to just name a few items the bank is involved with in some way.

If an advisor buyer only qualifies for an SBA loan then the deal has to comply with not only SBA requirements but also any additional requirements a willing SBA lender has as well.

Conventional lenders have their own set of requirements that in some cases are more lenient than the SBA and in other cases, are not. SBA has their policies and then each SBA lender adds their bank policies on top of the SBA policies.

Whether you are a buyer or seller, the first step of acquisition deal due diligence should be focused on the financing component. The acquisition deal viability and structure can then be determined and developed in compliance with the financing requirements.

Buyers need to know what purchase amount they are able to finance and if they would be likely an SBA or conventional loan before jumping into bidding or sourcing potential sellers.