January 7, 2026
Jason Diamond quoted
By Griffin Kelly
Onboarding of the Commonwealth advisors is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter, so there’s still time for advisors to go elsewhere. “It’s become pretty clear by now that the 90% was pretty aggressive,” said Jason Diamond, president of Diamond Consultants. However, he added that 78% sounds low, and he believes that the percentage will increase this year. LPL declined to comment.
The AdvizorPro-Muriel report tracked departures between April 1 and Dec. 31 of last year. Out of 2,900 Commonwealth advisors, about 650 left:
- Roughly two-thirds of those joined other broker-dealers, with Raymond James emerging as a standout destination. One out of every three advisors who changed firms chose Raymond James, attracted by early engagement, competitive transition packages and a familiar culture.
- The rest, roughly one third, took a different path, moving into the independent RIA space.
“Those are people who have outgrown the model,” Diamond said. “They’re thinking, ‘My broker-dealer was just bought. Do I really want to hop in bed with another?’ The RIA space is the natural evolution. It’s more freedom, more control, more autonomy.”
