December 3, 2024
Jason Diamond Quoted
By Nathan Place
In the world of wealth management, it seems like everyone wants to work at an RIA.
In recent years, there’s been a mass movement of financial advisors away from wirehouses and other brokerages and toward the registered investment advisor (RIA) model. Over the past six years, the number of RIA-only professionals has jumped by 51%, according to FINRA.
So an RIA must be a great place to work, right? It depends.
As in any other industry, one workplace under the “RIA” label can be vastly different from another. There are a plethora of factors to consider: work environment, benefits, leadership, communication, career mobility — or even something as simple as the location of the office.
But according to Jason Diamond, who recruits financial advisors for a living, the most important factor is also the hardest one to define.
“The number one thing that’s going to come into play is culture,” said Diamond, a vice president at the recruitment firm Diamond Consultants. “Usually when we talk to advisors about what would make one workplace more attractive than another, whether it’s a wirehouse or an RIA, it’s usually culture and economics.”
