The impact of years-long consolidation in the broker-dealer industry is showing loud and clear in FINRA's latest industry snapshot, which showed large firms accounting for the large majority of branches and registered individuals in 2024.
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has released its 2025 Industry Snapshot, which broke down the number of firms and registered representatives across the industry by firm size, branch count, number of individuals, state of registration, and a host of other dimensions.
“The FINRA Industry Snapshot provides a comprehensive look into the evolving structure and dynamics of the securities industry and markets,” Jonathan Sokobin, executive vice president, chief economist and head of regulatory economics and market analysis at FINRA, said in a statement unveiling the latest report.
Finra's 2025 industry snapshot showed that as of the end of 2024, only 5 percent of FINRA-registered firms qualified as large – defined as those with 500 or more registered representatives. But these 149 firms collectively employed more than 530,000 individuals, or roughly 82 percent of all FINRA-registered reps. In contrast, small firms – those with 150 or fewer representatives – made up 89 percent of FINRA membership but accounted for just over 9 percent of reps.
Branch office data shows a similar imbalance. Large firms operated more than 128,000 branches in 2024, representing nearly 87 percent of all registered locations. Small firms maintained fewer than 9,300 branches nationwide despite comprising the vast majority of member firms.
The number of broker-dealer firms registered with FINRA continued its steady decline last year, falling to 3,249 from 3,435 in 2020. Of those firms, more than 2,800 were small firms.
Firm headquarters remain concentrated in a handful of states. California continues to lead with 321 firms, followed by Florida with 251, New York with 225, Illinois with 205 and Texas with 196. Together, these five states account for just over one-third of all FINRA-registered broker-dealers by headquarters.
Finra's data also found that out of the 723,731 individuals registered in the securities industry in 2024, 311,469 were broker-dealer only representatives, while 323,039 were dually registered as both brokers and investment adviser representatives. Another 89,223 individuals were registered solely as investment advisers and are overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission or state regulators.
At the firm level, FINRA data shows that 2,840 of the 3,249 broker-dealers were registered only as broker-dealers. The number of dual registrants, meaning firms registered with both FINRA and the SEC as investment advisers, stood at 409 in 2024. Outside FINRA, the report said there were 32,090 investment adviser-only firms at the end of last year.
The most recent industry snapshot report by the Investment Adviser Association released at the end of May showed SEC-registered investment advisors now oversee $144.6 trillion in assets, with 93% of those RIA firms employing no more than 100 people.
Firm exits outpaced new FINRA registrations once again in 2024, continuing a long-term trend in the broker-dealer space. FINRA reported 136 new firms registered during the year, while 185 firms exited, resulting in a net loss of 49.
From 2020 until last year, the number of FINRA-registered firms has declined from 3,435 to 3,249, according to the report.
“This detailed annual report provides the public with greater transparency into the activities of our members and FINRA’s oversight, supporting a deeper understanding of this critical sector of the economy,” Sokobin said.
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