March 4, 2024
2023 Advisor Transition Report Cited
By Chris Latham
Diamond Consultants, a wealth management recruiting and M&A business, released its latest Advisor Transition Report. It found that 9,674 experienced advisors with over three years of service changed firms in 2023, up 7.5% from 2022 when 9,006 such advisors changed firms. Although firms announce recruiting success based on headcount, firms actually value profitability based on client assets over advisor headcount, according to Diamond Consultants.
The report found that recruiting winners were Morgan Stanley in the wirehouse segment, with 445 advisors gained; Raymond James & Associates in the regional firm category, with 159 advisors gained; and LPL Financial in the independent segment, with 1,526 advisors gained. Diamond Consultants also predicts that private equity firms will show greater interest in wirehouse teams and become a disruptive force in recruiting trends.
“2023 was a year of contradictions in the wealth management industry. Many advisors enjoyed record success, which might suggest they would be loath to upset the status quo, yet advisor movement was up in most industry channels,” according to the report. “It’s very common these days for an advisor to change firms or models, or consider a merger or acquisition, at least in part to solve for succession. Succession challenges are becoming a driver of movement.”
