Despite lower advisor satisfaction grades this year, the perennial champion wealth managers are holding on to their titles in the yearly J.D. Power survey.
Commonwealth Financial Network and Edward Jones drew the highest overall advisor satisfaction scores of any wealth managers in J.D. Power’s annual
The numbers reflect the views of a sample of 3,029 employee and independent financial advisors surveyed by the market research firm between January through April; their report cards carry weight. At least 18% of advisors at firms with the lowest scores between 2018 and 2021 switched firms with average annual production of about $800,000, compared to a rate of only 5% at the top-performing wealth managers. And independent advisors, on average, gave their firms better grades than the registered representatives in the employee channel.
“Advisor satisfaction is directly linked to retention and brand advocacy, so firms that want to get the most out of their advisors need to invest in providing them with the best tools and support to do their jobs effectively under all circumstances,” Mike Foy, J.D. Power’s senior director of wealth and lending intelligence, said in a statement. “This year has been especially challenging, and this study identifies some firms that clearly did a better job than others in meeting those challenges.”
The repeat champions and top contenders have earned strong reputations over the years, according to recruiter Jon Henschen of Henschen & Associates. For example, the “stodgy, large bureaucratic firms tend to feed advisors to firms like Stifel,” where advisors like having the ear of management and the feel of a smaller firm, Henschen says in an email.
Commonwealth gets top billing due to the customizable technology the firm has developed for advisors, along with low turnover in its corporate support staff and low ratio of advisors to back-office employees, according to Henschen.
“Commonwealth ranks consistently high because they have a long history of doing things well on a consistent basis,” Henschen says. “More recently, Commonwealth has introduced high quality proprietary technologies that have made them attractive to advisors that seek high quality, easy to use technology that is highly integrated and intuitive.”
As for Edward Jones, the company has “conservative Midwest values that the advisors appreciate,” as well as a favorable career path for many reps, Henschen says.
“Edward Jones has ranked high in large part due to their strong culture of growing advisors from scratch and a limited partnership structure that makes the advisors feel like they have some ownership in the firm,” he says. “Their culture is very hands-on and makes the advisors satisfied they are doing quality investing for their clients coupled with the direction and name branding of Edward Jones.”
The J.D. Power U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction Study measures advisors’ opinions in six categories: compensation, leadership and culture, operational support, products and marketing, professional development and technology. Firms with at least 100 affiliated advisors responding to the poll receive an overall satisfaction index on a 1,000-point scale.
For the results of J.D. Power’s latest advisor satisfaction survey, scroll down the text. To see last year’s rankings,
16. Wells Fargo Advisors
2021 satisfaction index: 577
Employee channel average: 743
2021 rank: 16
2020 satisfaction index: 592
2021 vs. 2020: (-15)
2020 rank: 15
15. UBS
2021 satisfaction index: 627
Employee channel average: 743
2021 rank: 15
2020 satisfaction index: 619
2021 vs. 2020: +8
2020 rank: 14
14. Merrill Lynch
2021 satisfaction index: 698
Employee channel average: 743
2021 rank: 14
2020 satisfaction index: 718
2021 vs. 2020: (-20)
2020 rank: 12
13. Advisor Group
2021 satisfaction index: 710
Independent channel average: 798
2021 rank: 13
2020 satisfaction index: 721
2021 vs. 2020: (-11)
2020 rank: 11
Employee channel average
2021 average satisfaction: 743
2020 average satisfaction: 711
2021 vs. 2020: +32
2019 average satisfaction: 736
2018 average satisfaction: 726
2017 average satisfaction: 719
2016 average satisfaction: 722
2015 average satisfaction: 701
2014 average satisfaction: 721
12. Morgan Stanley
2021 satisfaction index: 757
Employee channel average: 743
2021 rank: 12
2020 satisfaction index: 713
2021 vs. 2020: +44
2020 rank: 13
11. Cetera Financial Group
2021 satisfaction index: 777
Independent channel average: 798
2021 rank: 11
2020 satisfaction index: 772
2021 vs. 2020: +5
2020 rank: 9
10. Ameriprise employee channel
2021 satisfaction index: 789
Employee channel average: 743
2021 rank: 10
2020 satisfaction index: 743
2021 vs. 2020: +46
2020 rank: 10
Independent channel average
2021 average satisfaction: 798
2020 average satisfaction: 784
2021 vs. 2020: +14
2019 average satisfaction: 779
2018 average satisfaction: 753
2017 average satisfaction: 752
2016 average satisfaction: 755
2015 average satisfaction: 773
2014 average satisfaction: 778
9. LPL Financial
2021 satisfaction index: 817
Independent channel average: 798
2021 rank: 9
2020 satisfaction index: 793
2021 vs. 2020: +24
2020 rank: 8
8. Ameriprise franchise channel
2021 satisfaction index: 827
Independent channel average: 798
2021 rank: 8
2020 satisfaction index: 811
2021 vs. 2020: +16
2020 rank: 7
7. Northwestern Mutual
2021 satisfaction index: 828
Independent channel average: 798
2021 rank: 7
2020 satisfaction index: 831
2021 vs. 2020: (-3)
2020 rank: 6
6. Cambridge Investment Research
2021 satisfaction index: 842
Independent channel average: 798
2021 rank: 6
2020 satisfaction index: 866
2021 vs. 2020: (-24)
2020 rank: 4
5. Raymond James Financial Services
2021 satisfaction index: 853
Independent channel average: 798
2021 rank: 5
2020 satisfaction index: 850
2021 vs. 2020: +3
2020 rank: 5
4. Stifel
2021 satisfaction index: 857
Employee channel average: 743
2021 rank: 4
2020 satisfaction index: N/A
2021 vs. 2020: N/A
2020 rank: N/A
3. Raymond James & Associates
2021 satisfaction index: 864
Employee channel average: 743
2021 rank: 3
2020 satisfaction index: 867
2021 vs. 2020: (-3)
2020 rank: 3
2. Edward Jones
2021 satisfaction index: 890
Employee channel average: 743
2021 rank: 2
2020 satisfaction index: 920
2021 vs. 2020: (-30)
2020 rank: 2
1. Commonwealth Financial Network
2021 satisfaction index: 936
Independent channel average: 798
2021 rank: 1
2020 satisfaction index: 942
2021 vs. 2020: (-6)
2020 rank: 1
