Independent advisors

With retail investors projected to allocate $2 trillion into private equity, credit and similar investments over the next five years, asset managers are increasingly acting as a bridge to previously exclusive opportunities.

LPL saw its net income swell while considering price changes meant to lower payouts on client assets.

Schwab directly or indirectly manages only 2% of the $37 trillion in U.S. wealth that could be in the hands of advisors, according to CEO Rick Wurster. The size of the opportunity means there is no need to compete with the firm's RIA clients.

Even more than access to alternative assets and simplified platforms, advisors are looking to outside account providers to help them manage clients' taxes.

In its annual survey of industry consolidators, DeVoe and Co. detects signs that the upward march of RIA deal valuations may soon come to a halt.

JPMorgan has a habit of taking its former private client advisors to court and accusing them of trying to steal clients they met through bank referrals. An industry recruiter says such suits aren't necessarily a sign of recruiting deals gone bad.

Brooke Pilant, who was at Ameriprise from 2017 to 2024, accused the firm of turning against her after she raised concerns about "unethical practices."

As large wealth managers struggle to retain advisors seeking greater independence, Wells Fargo has taken a distinct approach with its FiNet channel. But is the loss of profit margin worth the retention gains?

Many clients avoid consolidating their assets at a single firm because they don't want the hassle. Advisors say it's important when to know not only when they're most likely to want to move assets, but also what to say.

In a recent industry snapshot, the Investment Adviser Association found the average number of data points advisors have to report in annual regulatory filings has nearly doubled to more than 1,000 since 2011.

Median total compensation for certified financial planners climbed to $195,000 last year. But pay varied widely, depending on factors like experience and type of firm worked at.

Valuation experts say RIA purchasers are most attuned to organic sources of growth — assets from new and existing clients. But market gains also play a role.

Head of Schwab Advisor Services Jonathan Beatty maintains there's more than enough wealth management business for everyone to share. But at least one critic says Schwab is clearly seeking a bigger piece of the pie.

Jim Gold of Steward Partners thinks impending advisor retirements will continue driving smaller RIAs into M&A deals with big acquirers — even as AI turns many investors into "do-it-yourselfers."

Firms with big recruiting loan balances are often the ones with the most success hiring advisors from industry rivals. But the numbers also suggest they're offering increasingly generous deals.

Adam Cox led the wealth management division of a regional bank for 10 years. His lack of an ownership stake in the business he'd spent so much time building eventually drove him to seek independence.

Touchstone Wealth Partners is the fourth team with more than $1 billion in client assets to join Wells Fargo's FiNet unit this year.

Rich Guerrini said the bank plans to expand its advisor ranks by about 50% as it targets mass affluent and other new clients with personalized branch-based service.

Regulators have been working their way steadily down from the biggest players in the industry to regional firms in their quest to stamp out abuses of "off-channel" communications.

Barry Sommers comes in for high praise amid his firm's attempts to move beyond the banking scandals of its past.