May 27, 2025
Jason Diamond Quoted
By Tobias Salinger
Two fundamental questions to consider
Marketing and compliance restrictions, product cross-selling conflicts of interest and compensation policies often push advisors away from the wirehouses, according to Jason Diamond, president of advisor recruiting firm Diamond Consultants. At the same time, lesser-tenured advisors frequently see reason to doubt that their clients will go with them out of a large, nationally known brand.
And the firms’ technology, staffing and other services “do absolutely provide a lot, even if advisors don’t recognize that or give them credit for that,” Diamond said. So, the first question is, are they able to move? Next is: do they want to?
“The advisor can move when the book of business is sticky to them,” Diamond said. “At some point, it just makes too much economic sense to move, because you do have that ability to monetize your business.”
Change isn’t always good
Potential breakaway advisors have to figure out whether they would like to be an entrepreneur in addition to an advisor, choose among competing economic bids and select the technology and company culture that’s the best fit for their goals. Whether they want to go or not, it never hurts to conduct a little due diligence on the idea.
“I think that advisors are wise to do that periodically in their careers,” Diamond said. “If you feel incredibly content and incredibly well-served at your firm, it doesn’t matter what other options are out there.”
