RIA Edge Podcast: CEO Matt Regan on Wealthcare’s New Owners, Future M&A and AI’s Organic Growth Potential

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Oct 16, 2025

Matt Regan, President and CEO of Wealthcare Capital Management, shares insights on the firm's transformation from a software pioneer to a national advisory platform. He discusses Wealthcare's focus on acquiring sub-$1 billion firms to boost growth and the importance of supporting next-gen talent. The conversation also dives into their recent sale to Sammons Financial, which opens up new strategic opportunities. Matt highlights how technology and AI are shaping their business model and aiding advisors, ensuring a modern approach to wealth management.

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ANECDOTE

Software Roots To Platform Pivot

Wealthcare began in 1999 as a goals-based planning software company and also ran an RIA under the same founder.
Over time it pivoted into a platform supporting independent advisors while keeping proprietary planning technology.

INSIGHT

1099 Channel As Acquisition Funnel

Wealthcare primarily recruits advisors as 1099s so they retain client relationships and brands.
The firm then supports growth via its platform and later transitions some advisors into owned W-2 channels.

ADVICE

Turn Recruit Pipeline Into Deals

Use your existing 1099 advisor relationships as the primary pipeline for M&A opportunities.
Convert familiar 1099 partners into W-2 acquisitions when cultural fit and timing align.

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Wealthcare Capital Management’s evolution from a software pioneer to a national advisory platform reveals the power of strategic reinvention.

In this episode of the RIA Edge Podcast, host David Armstrong speaks with Matt Regan, president and CEO of Wealthcare Capital Management, about Wealthcare’s journey from its roots in Richmond, Va., to its sale to Sammons Financial. Matt shares how the firm is blending technology, M&A strategy and advisor support to create growth opportunities for independent advisors nationwide.

Matt and David also discuss the firm’s acquisition approach, the rise of supported independence and the ongoing transformation of the RIA space.

Matt discusses:

Wealthcare’s beginnings as an investment planning software firm and its evolution into a full-service wealth management enterprise with some 200 affiliated advisors and $10 billion in AUM.
The recent transaction, which saw ownership of the firm move from private equity investors NewSpring Capital to employee-owned Sammons Financial, a mid-sized financial services firm, and the potential to set up an independent wealth management vertical inside that organization.
Why Wealthcare still purposefully targets sub-$1 billion firms for acquisitions, and how the war for talent, particularly next-gen, is feeding into Wealthcare’s dealmaking roadmap. (In fact, Wealthcare’s advisors are, overall, younger than the industry average.)
Why the firm has a goal to move more affiliated advisors, largely 1099 employees, into Wealthcare’s W-2 channel.
Regan’s view on most of the digital marketing platforms currently available to advisors, and how AI may be the answer to truly move the needle on organic growth via improved lead generation and prospect nurturing.
Why Regan is looking for an AI-enhanced small account investment platform for advisors to offer younger prospects who don’t—yet—make profitable full-service clients.

Resources:

Listen to the RIA Edge Podcast on WealthManagement.com
Listen and Subscribe to the RIA Edge Podcast on Apple Podcasts
Listen and Subscribe to the RIA Edge Podcast on Spotify

Connect With David Armstrong:

Connect With Matt Regan:

About Our Guest:

Matt Regan serves as Wealthcare’s President. Most recently and prior to Wealthcare, Matt served as the Chief Operating Officer of Wescott Financial, a $2 billion RIA based in Philadelphia. With more than two decades in the financial services industry, Matt has been involved in a number of transformative business models and has remained focused on building world-class organizations with a focus on the client. As a founding partner of WR Hambrecht+Co, Matt launched the retail brokerage offering and helped to design and launch the auction-based OpenIPO system. As a consultant to Vanguard, Matt was involved in the technology and business transformation that created the infrastructure that underlies the firm’s Personal Advisor Services offering. Matt is a graduate of the University of Toronto and resides outside Philadelphia with his wife and three children.