Wells Fargo also pulls from Merrill and Raymond James again from Commonwealth, while AlphaCore buys up a big RIA and the FPA gets a new CEO.

The independent broker-dealer has done especially well recruiting Commonwealth advisors since that firm's acquisition by LPL Financial.

Despite a slowdown in advisor recruitment from the first half of the year, Stifel managed to achieve record revenue for the third quarter.

Dynasty Financial Partners' investment bank joins Diamond Consultants to help departing teams vet transition options, whether that's joining another wirehouse, selling to an RIA aggregator or starting their own business.

The wirehouse leaves its basic paygrid untouched for the fifth year in a row while giving advisors extra incentives to tout banking products and work with existing clients' children and grandchildren.

The awards recognize early-career brokers that have created top production numbers at their wealth management firms.

Janney also adds teams from Morgan Stanley and UBS, while LPL Financial picks up advisors from Janney for its direct employee channel.

JPMorgan Chase's absorption of First Republic after the 2023 regional banking crisis has finally dealt its last blow to the giant custodian's asset flows.

Along with bringing in new households and assets, the Bank of America wealth management units are turning to loans, alternative assets and other offerings to do more with existing clients.

The largest wirehouse also reported a record quarter for wealth management revenues built on strong asset inflows in the third quarter.

Also remarkable: the size of the teams that are leaving and the types of firms benefiting from the defections, a new report from Diamond Consultants finds.

After a steep decline last quarter, Citi's wealth division rebounded in the third quarter with a record level of net new investment assets.

Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf also points to investments into the firm's independent channel as helping to retain advisors and curtail departures to other firms.

Though advisors keep heading for the door following the sale of Commonwealth, industry analysts believe LPL Financial can still hit its post-purchase goals for retaining assets and headcount.

The purchase comes as Creative Planning seeks to build out its expertise in managing retirement plans.

With deals like Cetera's purchase of Avantax, Morgan Stanley's of Parametric and JPMorgan's of 55ip, big firms are increasingly able to answer high net worth clients' tax questions without having to send them to outside professionals.

Rick Meyers, head of client and advisory at Bernstein Private Wealth Management, looks to recruiting, training and possibly even acquisitions to further the firm's wealth management ambitions.

But Commonwealth Financial Network retains its appeal, pulling a team from Morgan Stanley, while LPL draws a large practice from RBC.

Client assets will always represent a key business metric. But $1 billion in AUM doesn't always add up to success — or to happiness.

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