Wirehouse advisors

As Raymond James, Wells Fargo and RBC reported big recruiting deals this week, FINRA said it was going to pay back to its members a large chunk of the fees they paid last year.

Osaic and UBS have both been on the losing end of some recruiting deals in recent months, while this week Cambridge, Rockefeller and RBC were on the winning end.

Roughly 200 advisors at the firm are being named "founder specialists" for their track record helping entrepreneurs do everything from set up employee-benefit plans to take their firms public.

Also this week, Raymond James pulls from Ameriprise, UBS from Morgan Stanley and LPL from RBC.

RBC Wealth goes to UBS again to pull over advisors with large AUM tallies; Carson Group buys a firm in Colorado, and Goldman Sachs alumni set up an RIA through Dynasty Financial.

Industry experts say there's theoretically no reason why firms can't keep getting bigger through recruiting deals. But a lack of good M&A prospects could make growth harder for LPL and other independent broker-dealers.

LPL Financial also pulls an advisory team from RBC, and Cetera hires a chief fiduciary officer for its trust subsidiary.

Experts say that there are pitfalls, rules and procedures that departing financial advisors should know. Problem is, too many act first and consult lawyers later.

UBS continues to lose larger advisory teams after making changes to compensation policies last year. Meanwhile, Ashton Thomas and LPL both score advisory teams.

The flow of financial advisors to the independent channels is certainly accelerating. But the traditional brokerage giants still offer advantages for some teams.