Industry News from Financial Planning

Consolidation has been ongoing for more than a decade in wealth management, but it accelerated to unprecedented levels this year.

Also, Cresset extends its reach in Texas, Janney recruits from Wells Fargo and Ameriprise, Merrill draws from Wells Fargo and Mercer acquires a $1B firm.

RBC CEO David McKay discusses plans to provide more clients with banking relationships while the firm announces a reorganization of its U.S. wealth management division next year.

Preparation is everything: If clients are aware of the transition well in advance, experts say the risk is pretty low they'll leave the firm.

One of the most consequential M&A deals in years leads this roundup of the many ways big independent firms grew in 2025 and how they plan to continue growing in 2026.

Also, Raymond James lands a $420M father-son team from Edward Jones, Cetera recruits a $350M LPL duo, and Cambridge acquires a $1B AUM dual registrant.

Savant Wealth Management, Moneta Group Investment Advisors and EP Wealth Advisors lead a group of fee-only firms with headcounts well above their peers.

Experts say RIA owners often resist making themselves replaceable. But they'll have to choose between an internal or external deal someday.

LPL executives have said they're well on the way to retaining 90% of the client assets they're seeking to bring over from their recent purchase of Commonwealth. But advisor departures have ticked upward.

As CEO Sergio Ermotti says it's almost impossible for the firm's U.S. wealth management business to match rivals' profit margins, UBS seeks to help new and existing advisors sharpen their expertise.

Wells Fargo recruits a $543M JPMorgan team, Raymond James adds a $360M family practice and Beacon Pointe acquires a women-led RIA.

This year the top three firms in FP's exclusive study of RIAs that do not do any commission business manage nearly $120 billion combined.

Firms might not be able to untangle the web's interconnected services, but they can think ahead and duplicate servers and data to prepare for the next outage.

At a time when private equity ownership is causing clashes between independent broker-dealers and some of their largest advisory teams, Private Advisor Group found another option.

The printable PDF includes rankings based on the firms' AUM as well as statistics on each firm's employees, client accounts and financial advisors.

The Munster Freeman Group will add to Wells Fargo's offerings for wealthy and ultrawealthy clients with offices in the Los Angeles area, Arizona and Colorado.

Dueling announcements Friday show that UBS is still struggling with advisor retention even as it brings in a new executive to oversee its recruiting efforts.

RBC pulls $1.2B and $705M teams from rivals, Merrill gets a $420M duo, and several large M&A deals close.

Financial therapist Rahkim Sabree wove his personal experiences into a detailed manual on a problem he and others say is often glossed over by the industry.

Borrowers who receive discharges of their student debt under the Income-Driven Repayment program could be facing tax bills as high as $10,000 next year.