A few short years ago, it was a generally accepted notion that only advisors who “couldn’t cut it” at the big firms went independent. But this perception seems to have been turned on its head since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008 as an ever-increasing number of successful advisors have forsaken the traditional model and gone the independent route to become so-called breakaway brokers.
Diamond Consultants’ internal data for the first half of 2013 shows that the percentage of advisors moving from traditional broker-dealer channels to either an independent broker-dealer or a registered investment advisor practice model continues to climb (see chart). Our numbers going back to 2010 are striking: a 30% total increase in advisors moving to the independent space through midyear 2013. Moreover, our pipeline of advisor candidates today is stocked with advisors who have expressed significant interest in going independent.
