Ameriprise is aggressively courting top advisors from Commonwealth Financial Network in what’s shaping up to be a high-stakes recruiting battle following independent-broker dealer behemoth LPL's $2.7 billion deal to buy Commonwealth.
“We are pretty aggressively going after those advisors, and we feel that they're a direct fit for our independent advisors,” said a source from Ameriprise. “We're approved to go up to 125% up front on [Commonwealth] advisors who have around $1 million in production and higher.”
The source, who spoke to InvestmentNews on the condition of anonymity, explained that Ameriprise will offer up to 125% up front of a Commonwealth advisor’s T12 (trailing 12 months) revenue for those producing over $1 million. Ameriprise aims to land anywhere from 360 to 725 Commonwealth advisors out of the 2,900 transitioning through their sale to LPL. Around 725 advisors would represent a full quarter of Commonwealth’s 2,900, but the source said that Ameriprise’s “realistic” expectations are closer to recruiting 360 — an eighth of Commonwealth’s base.
“I'm probably talking to over $20 million in T12 right now from those Commonwealth advisors throughout my territory,” said the Ameriprise source. “There's over 30 factors that go into our offers, but probably the most important ones are certainly T12, how much of it's recurring and not. If it's transactional revenue that's always valued at a lower multiple in our industry. If they believe in advice, charging a fee for advice, that practice is worth a premium.”
Ameriprise seeks a commitment period of between five to 10 years in their offers to Commonwealth advisors. “We bonus throughout the length of the note to substantially cover the platform fee, or eliminate it entirely,” said the source. “That's a big deal because they almost could be with Ameriprise for 10 years for close to no cost, which is insane. But we really do want those advisors in our firm. They're incredible advisors.”
Raymond James, Kestra, Cetera, Wells Fargo, and Morgan Stanley are among the other firms reportedly in pursuit of Commonwealth advisors. Raymond James is offering over 100% of trailing 12 months compensation to Commonwealth advisors, according to a Commonwealth advisor who described Raymond James’s offer as a “no brainer” over LPL’s retention offer.
LPL is offering Commonwealth advisors retention bonuses that are between 10 to 50 basis points on an advisors' assets under management. The Ameriprise source was surprised to see that “some” Commonwealth advisors have already signed their retention deals with LPL, a quicker than expected move as advisors value the seamless keeping of their client’s notes and financial details in joining LPL.
LPL is the industry’s biggest independent broker-dealer (IBD) with over 28,000 advisors while Ameriprise ranks second with over 8,000. Advisors at Ameriprise, Commonwealth and Raymond James all carry between $850,000 and $1.1 million gross revenue per rep while LPL averages a much lower $428,728, according to FA Magazine’s 2025 IBD rankings.
“Commonwealth was probably the most premium independent firm in all of financials services, and I really do highly respect those advisors a lot," added the Ameriprise source, who compared LPL's Commonwealth aquisition to as if "Nordstrom just got bought by Walmart."
In the backdrop of Ameriprise’s attempt to recruit Commonwealth advisors from LPL remains the long-running legal dispute between Ameriprise and LPL related to client data and advisor hiring practices.
While InvestmentNews stands by its reporting, Ameriprise issued the following statement:
“The information provided by the anonymous source on our Commonwealth recruiting deal and targets is factually inaccurate," said Ameriprise in a statement.
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