November 9, 2020
Louis Diamond Quoted
By Ellen Sheng

There are pros and cons to just about every situation, but when it comes to advisors breaking away to start their own firms, it seems the grass really is greener on the other side.

There were 655 breakaway deals in 2019, a 22% increase from the previous year, according to Echelon Partners. That pace hasn’t slowed this year. But while more advisors are breaking away every year, few go the other way.

Louis Diamond, executive vice president at Diamond Consultants, says he sees maybe one person a year who decides to go back to a wirehouse. When it happens, it’s often because the advisor wanted to be back with a big brand, perhaps because they were struggling with how to market themselves. Another reason to go back is to get away from the day-to-day of running a business and compliance.

But these situations are far and few between, according to Diamond. “The biggest thing is just kind of quality of life and freedoms independent advisors have gotten used to,” he says.