January 7, 2026
Louis Diamond quoted
By AdvisorHub Staff
Recruiters, RIA founders and investor advocates share their ideas of what happened this year and what will happen next year.
Louis Diamond, who leads one of the industry’s most active recruiting firms, recounted:
“Some of the largest teams in the industry moved in 2025 including the launch of OpenArc Corporate Advisory at $129 billion in assets, the $6.3 billion Hingham Street Partners team from UBS to Wells [Fargo], $6 billion Denis Cleary from UBS to start an RIA with Pershing, the $5 billion Degenaars Babb Group from JP Morgan to RBC.”
He warned: “Big team departures drive headlines but also serve as a wake-up call for other advisors. Also notable is the dispersion of where the biggest teams in the space are moving to. Lots of RIA breakaways, plenty of intra-wirehouse, and firms like RBC and Rockefeller are benefiting as well.”
In 2026, Diamond said AI will impact “advisor movement in two ways: 1) advisors will judge their current firm based on its AI (or lack of) AI capabilities and use that as a motivating factor to consider change. At the same time, advisors will evaluate a firm’s AI capabilities or investments in AI as a new criterion. 2) The cost of developing and safely implementing AI will be another catalyst for IBD and firm consolidation.”
He posed rhetorically: “How can a smaller firm keep up with the technology spend of firms like Raymond James, LPL [Financial], and Ameriprise [Financial]?”
