March 19, 2026
Louis Diamond quoted
By Eric Rasmussen
Shortly after the Commonwealth deal was announced, LPL CEO Rich Steinmeier acknowledged that it expected a group of Commonwealth-affiliated advisors to leave the B-D world entirely and go RIA-only (Commonwealth had been building its own RIA custodian platform in an effort to retain these reps for several years.) According to an AdvizorPro study late in 2025, about 35% of departing Commonwealth advisors chose that route.
Commonwealth’s culture was famously more high-touch and tech-insular, and the culture clash was apparent to many. So other firms scrambled to pick up those defectors. Raymond James and Ameriprise were said to be offering 125% of trailing-12-month production for unhappy Commonwealth reps. RayJay has been particularly aggressive (and one of the biggest winners of defectors). That’s not surprising, as rumors had leaked that it was a candidate to buy Commonwealth itself, before LPL outbid it.
“I think by far the biggest inducement [for broker-dealers to advisors] is the forgivable loan, and those numbers have gone way up really since last May, when LPL bought Commonwealth,” says Louis Diamond, CEO of headhunting firm Diamond Consultants. That’s caused an industry-wide reset, he says. “Pretty much all the firms, like, really stepped up their offers, and at least for now, those deals are staying around.”
