FAQ's

SkyView Partners focuses exclusively on the financing and investment banking needs of RIA and independent financial advisors. We provide financial advisors with guidance and capital for succession, merger, acquisition, and existing advisory loan refinancing. 

SkyView Partners is comprised of financial advisory veterans, RIA loan specialists, and a seasoned credit team who quantify the value of your practice for submission to our network of lenders. 

SkyView provides conventional (non-SBA), commercial RIA loans for wealth management successions, mergers, acquisitions, and debt restructuring. In certain cases where an advisor may not qualify for a conventional advisor loan, SkyView can offer an SBA structure. 

SkyView has established a well-capitalized, progressive network of RIA lenders across the nation. SkyView ensures that each borrower is paired with the financing partner best suited to help them achieve their RIA M&A initiatives. 

SkyView Partners underwrites your capital request, then submits your loan application to our network of lenders via our Lender Marketplace. Our breadth of lenders provides our clients with confidence that their transaction is funded by an efficient and cost-effective lender.

Rates will vary over time based on several factors. For current rates, please refer to SkyView's Standard Loan Structure.

Yes, advisory loans have an origination fee of around 2%. The origination fee can be fully financed; thus, there are no out-of-pocket costs to the advisor. 

Typical loan structure is a 7-year term with a 10-year amortization. The loan must be paid off in 7 years; however, the advisor makes payments as if the loan had a 10-year term. The advisor can prepay additional principal to fully repay over the 7-year term or pay the minimum payment due and have a residual balance remaining at the end of the loan term that can be paid in full or refinanced. 

Assuming our borrowers make timely payments over the loan term, banks appreciate seasoned borrower requests to finance the residual due at term for the remaining three years. Often, the borrower enjoys a more competitive rate for the residual due to their bank’s increased confidence in their ability to repay a loan. 

SkyView retains the origination fee. We are only compensated when the advisor loan is funded by one of our banks. Our origination fee can be fully financed into loan proceeds.

Our fee does not fluctuate based on the interest rate charged or bank utilized; as a result, our goal is aligned with the borrower: retaining the best bank partner for their long-term M&A growth strategy.

SkyView Partners can underwrite your loan request, solicit offers from our network of banks, and fund within approximately as little as 21 days; however, most investment advisor loans fund forty-five to sixty days after submitting all RIA loan documentation.

Most advisor loans do not close in three weeks, primarily because the advisor has not completed all of the steps (commonly, the collection of requisite documents such as tax returns) required to begin underwriting.

STEP ONE: 

Fill out the Pre-Approval Form at www.SkyView.com. (Approx. 5 min) 

If approved, SkyView will email a Pre-Approval Letter, a preliminary document checklist, and instructions to create a login for our online application portal within 48 hours. 

STEP TWO: 

Create a portal account and upload SkyView’s 7 preliminary underwriting documents. (15 min) 

STEP THREE: 

After these documents have been uploaded, SkyView will do preliminary underwriting on the transaction and issue a Term Sheet. (Under 24 hours) 

STEP FOUR: 

Applicants then submit a secondary group of documents (approx. 15 total). Upon completion, SkyView will complete full internal underwriting and draft an Opportunity Memorandum on the transaction. (5-10 days) 

STEP FIVE: 

SkyView will select a bank partner that is best suited for the transaction. (15-35 days) 

This bank partner will collect their own documents and will then run due diligence. The entire conventional loan process typically requires 27 – 30 documents to close as opposed to 150 for an SBA loan. After the bank has completed their due diligence, the loan will be funded. 

After you have been Pre-Approved, you will receive a link to upload all documents directly to our secure server.

Historically, banks have been very reluctant to lend to RIA practices because most have nominal tangible assets and fluctuating cash flows from commission-based compensation. As recurring fees have become more common, we have been able to educate select banks who are willing to fund RIA loans, despite negative tangible asset valuations. 

SkyView does not provide third party RIA valuations. Our network of bank partners requires a third-party RIA valuation for each wealth management loan. SkyView has partnered with a number of the leading RIA valuation firms across the nation and can help financial advisors choose an advisor valuation partner that is best suited for their RIA loan. 

Does SkyView offer M&A services?

SkyView Investment Bank, an affiliate of SkyView Partners, offers RIA integrated M&A support through the Synchronized M&A Solutions platform, including listing, investment banking, and financing services. 

Often, advisory practices with a larger portion of their revenue generated from recurring advisory fees attract higher valuations than revenue from non-recurring resources. RIA valuations and multiples vary based on a number of factors.