October 12, 2021
Louis Diamond Quoted
By Lynnley Browning

Financial advisors increasingly want to work for themselves.

Over 2015-2020, according to Fidelity Investments, nearly one in five advisors ditched their employer for a competitor, often one much smaller. Among those who bailed, nearly 40% joined a registered independent advisory (RIA) firm, either a pure one or a hybrid shop with broker-dealer services. One in four went to an independent broker-dealer. An additional 18% of all advisors considered making similar moves. “No one is staying in their lane,” wrote Bernie Clark, the head of Schwab Advisor Services, last February.

“Newly independent advisors often become so intoxicated by opportunity (establishing ancillary business lines, M&A opportunities, participating on social media and in the press and literally screening out hundreds of vendor options) that they sometimes lose sight of the basics.

“Shoring up the business and ensuring the infrastructure and processes are rock solid, first, before tackling other strategic initiatives, will enable an advisor to scale more efficiently in the future and realize the maximum value from deferring on the exciting aspects of running a business for the first time. In other words, crawl before you run! Advisors take the entrepreneurial journey for a reason, but they need not accomplish every little thing right away.”

~Louis Diamond, president of Diamond Consultants, a financial advisor recruiting and M&A advisory firm in Morristown, New Jersey