Only 177 wirehouse advisors changed firms in November, according to new figures from Discovery database. This is less than half the number who moved in October.

Of the advisors who did move, 42% of them went to another wirehouse, 13% went to a regional firm and another 13% went independent.

This marked drop-off follows massive movement earlier this year. According to Discovery, there was a 17.6% increase in advisor movement between the last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. This was followed by a 24% decrease in advisor movement between the first and second quarters.

However, both Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney have increased their recruitment packages over the last few months to reach up to 330% for the biggest producers. According to the industry headhunters at On Wall’s Street’s recent Recruiters Roundtable, this is likely to set off a new round of movement, particularly if UBS comes out with a similar deal. “Deals are bigger and better. (A number of wirehouses) are owned by banks and they have access to money at almost 0% interest rate right now. (Recruiting) is a good way to spend it,” said California-based recruiter Bill Willis.

In-depth coverage of the Recruiters Roundtable will appear in the upcoming January issue of On Wall Street.