Recruiting

The up-and-coming IBD Arkadios recruits an entire Morgan Stanley team and a significant share of Merrill's headcount in Dothan, Alabama.

The tide is in the wirehouse's direction in its fights with advisors who've left for rival firms.

Also this week, Raymond James picks another team from Commonwealth amid its purchase by LPL, and Cetera recruits from B. Riley Wealth Advisors.

Recruiters say firms routinely cover advisors' lost deferred compensation in offer packages. Those deals are complicating efforts by advisors who contend they're still owed backpay.

The numbers don't reflect much change in the low representation of female wealth management professionals, but there are some signs of progress.

Only about 4% to 6% of advisors switch firms in a given year, for any number of reasons. Here's how growing advisory teams add to their ranks.

A group of former Ameriprise brokers argue they had no say in a court agreement requiring them to hand over their cell phones and other devices to a third-party forensic examiner.

Plus, UBS loses a pair of advisors from a prominent team to Morgan Stanley, while SageView and Corient make big acquisition deals.

Each of the biggest firms in the channel grew substantially in 2024, but LPL's giant M&A deal to buy Commonwealth for $2.7 billion has further consolidated the ranks.

The win for Morgan Stanley comes after a recent string of victories against brokers who left for rival firms. But as the outcome in the JPMorgan case shows, firms don't always prevail.

Complex manager John Moran says RBC Wealth Management's New York market has recruited advisors with nearly $10 billion in assets this fiscal year, pulling from rivals like UBS, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley.

Also this week, both Arax Investment Partners and Aspen Standard Wealth add RIAs with $1B in AUM.

AFE Private Wealth's upcoming move to a larger office will launch what its partners say is a separate but symbiotic pairing with an exclusive gathering place.

Also this week, the tech-driven RIA Farther boosts its AUM total to over $13 billion with a recruiting blitz, Mercer adds an RIA with more than $1 billion in assets and Cresset fills out its C-suite.

The Swiss financial giant also saw its assets flow out of its Americas business in the second quarter as advisors left and clients set aside billions for taxes.

After a difficult start to the year, Stifel reported a strong second quarter, with record AUM and net revenue figures for its wealth management division.

Emily Dreas, who became a senior executive for the firm's New York market earlier this year, has been busy filling out the firm's leadership ranks with hires from industry rivals.

As advisors continue to exit UBS for rival firms Merrill, Ameriprise and Raymond James, EP Wealth completed a major acquisition.

The Fed's rate cuts last year also took a toll on the company's results for the second quarter, when there were sharp drops in the flow of incoming client holdings.

Departures from the Swiss banking giant show no signs of letting up in a week that also saw LPL Financial and Elevation Pointe announce big deals.