Recruiting

Rick Simonetti knows it's not easy recruiting private bankers and then moving their clients and assets. That hasn't stopped him from building Fidelis Capital into a $3 billion firm built largely on bankers pulled from Wells Fargo and Bank of America.

Over the past decade, the annual revenue gap between LPL and any other independent brokerage has soared to more than 100% from less than 1%. But that doesn't mean that the No. 1 firm can rest on those laurels.

As analysts raise concerns that AI could undermine the economics of generous transition deals, executives at Ameriprise, Stifel and Raymond James wonder if firms are paying too much to recruit advisors.

Executives from some of the largest firms in the channel — Ameriprise, Kestra Financial, Cetera, LPL Financial and Osaic — discuss how clearing and custody fits into their approaches to recruiting and retaining financial advisors.

In a constantly changing industry, clearing and custody fees defy generalizations. The largest independent broker-dealers present financial advisors with the choice of working with a "self-clearing" firm or one that outsources those essential services.

A succession merger deal that was nearly 10 years in the making at Nebraska-based Prairie Wealth Advisors offers a lens into the many factors involved with the wealth management industry's looming financial advisor retirements.

Altruist has earned legions of fans among financial advisors for sleek technology and low, clear fees. But its critics question whether that is enough to catch up to the giants that have dominated the business for decades.

An industry recruiter said departing Commonwealth teams tend to stick with brokerages because their objections are less to IBDs and more to LPL. Generous transition deals also help.

Edward Jones financial advisors helped the firm reel in $17.7 billion in net new assets in the second quarter. And another recent filing gave clues about the firm's upcoming planned changes to equity stakes.

Although many advisors choose to leave Wall Street mainstays in favor of firms offering greater independence, some find they're still most at home at another wirehouse. Just ask Todd Hatfield.

Two presentations at The American College of Financial Services' CAAFP discussed how successful careers in the industry require both technical and emotional skills.

In a Q&A, Horizon Financial Group CEO Pete Bush explains why he adapted one of his favorite books to the financial advising profession.

SEI may not be the first firm that comes to mind when thinking about the industry's custodians, but the firm has built a substantial client base of financial advisors over more than 30 years.

FINRA's annual snapshot shows how the wealth industry is changing, from key business metrics and marketing trends to shifts in registration and a shrinking branch footprint.

An albeit smaller sample of financial advisors participating in FP's Compensation Survey nevertheless reflected the industry-wide trend around gender pay gaps.

Financial Planning's Compensation Survey measured the total pay of hundreds of financial advisors and, perhaps more importantly, the lessons they would share to aspiring planners about forging a successful career.

JD Power's closely watched survey of financial advisors' satisfaction with employee and independent brokerages crowned its perennial winners, with one interesting exception.

The Ensemble Practice's annual growth and profitability report reveals a "scissors shape" between the two, based on a survey of more than 170 firms.

Even though RIAs reached a record size in four important metrics, experts say equity values are masking weaknesses in their organic growth.

Women pursuing career milestones like opening their own RIAs could fall into traps based on those comparisons — or use them as inspiration and research.