A war for talent is being waged across the financial advice industry, and it’s not just for advisors.
A range of critical team roles and specialists like paraplanners, relationship managers, investment specialists, and the operational minds that make scale possible are in demand. It’s a war driven by quickly evolving client expectations, a generational transfer of wealth, and growing shortage of supply.
The next generation of clients is on the rise, and they are looking for trusted relationships with firms able to provide deep planning capabilities, leading-edge investing and risk management solutions, and reassurance their needs will be met over the long term – enduring through future transitions within the firm.
As these industry trends play out, it's becoming increasingly hard to compete and grow as a true solo practitioner – even one with a robust network of third-party professionals to tap into.
Winning with today’s client often requires the collective strength of a multi-faceted team – and those best positioned to succeed will be those investing in becoming destination firms where top performers choose to stay, grow, and build their careers.
Here are five strategies to help your firm become the career destination of choice.
Top performers don’t just want a job – they want a career. Yet many firms fail to offer a clear roadmap. Without a defined career path, even your best people may eventually look elsewhere. It is essential to invest in career development frameworks to define what success looks like and how to achieve it.
To help forge these career paths, some of our top-performing teams use first-chair/second-chair advisor models from the onset of every client relationship. For example, at the largest practice within Northwestern Mutual, the $3.2 billion Park Avenue Capital led by Peter Tiboris and Ben Feldman, every client meeting includes a lead and supporting advisor. The lead runs the meeting while the second manages the follow-ups and ongoing client communication. This allows the second-chair advisor to find strategic opportunities to check in, build trust, and start to develop a rapport and relationship with the client. In fact, the stated goal of the supporting advisor is to “steal the client” by earning their confidence.
These pathways allow high-performing teams to bring along the next generation of advisors and give them visibility and ownership – keys to long-term retention.
Many rising advisors want equity, but firm leaders often struggle with when and how to offer it.
Ownership remains financially out of reach for many. Next-gen advisors often can’t afford to buy into a practice at or near market value without relying on external financing, which can come with steep terms or personal risk.
To help address this challenge head-on, Northwestern Mutual recently launched a $1 billion succession capital program. It offers debt financing options designed to support large, complex transfers of ownership within and across firms, including equity partner buy-ins, succession-related sales, mergers, and external acquisitions. These options provide qualified advisors access to longer-term financing, market-competitive rates, and more flexible terms than a third-party lender.
Making these resources visible and accessible to next-gen advisors signals your firm’s commitment to helping them navigate the succession process when the time comes.
The traditional 100% variable compensation model, while effective for some, is a barrier for many would-be advisors. Career changers and younger professionals in particular may be reluctant to give up steady paychecks without a safety net, even if they have the skills and motivation to succeed.
Compensation flexibility is more important than ever. Firms offering salary-plus-incentive models are opening the door to a wider and more diverse talent pool. These roles serve as stepping stones for talented professionals who may not yet be ready to build a clientele from scratch, but are eager to make an impact.
Equally important is structural flexibility. Not every advisor wants to build a large team – but many want to affiliate with one. Forward-thinking firms should consider offering affiliation models allowing advisors to partner with a team, leverage its scale and support, conduct joint-work, and access shared resources – all while maintaining ownership over their client relationships.
Flexibility – in pay and structure – is often the deciding factor for top talent.
As firms scale, the demands on leadership multiply. Larger teams need more than lead advisors. They need CEOs, COOs, CFOs, and practice managers to drive operations, culture, retention, and growth. In fact, the aforementioned Park Avenue Capital took an extraordinary step to add a seasoned hospitality industry veteran to its team, serving as the practice’s chief experience officer. Whether promoted from within or hired externally, these leaders are essential.
Many advisors enter the profession to help people – not necessarily to run a business. But the reality is growing a successful practice requires enterprise-level thinking and a business-minded skillset that goes beyond client acquisition and service. And yet, far too many firms try to scale without developing their team’s business acumen or professionalizing their management.
To future-proof your firm, you must develop both the next generation of advisors, as well as the next generation of business leaders. One way we do this at Northwestern Mutual is through a year-long business simulator for next-gen leaders. Participants run mock practices, make real-time leadership decisions, and learn to think like business owners.
Ensuring you have a strong leadership team at the helm and training the next generation to lead both clients and businesses will set your firm apart.
To attract next-gen advisors, firms must connect with next-gen clients.
Clients want advisors who reflect their values, backgrounds, and lived experiences. That means building a practice that reflects the diversity of the marketplace across age, gender, race, and more.
Leading firms are intentionally building multigenerational teams with segment-specific expertise. For example, more experienced advisors may focus on estate planning and retirement transitions, while younger advisors specialize in early-stage wealth building. This not only improves client service, it gives emerging advisors a clear lane to own and the opportunity to work with clients they can grow with over the long term.
For high-potential talent, longevity matters. A diverse, multigenerational team signals your firm has staying power.
Becoming a destination firm is more than a talent strategy – it’s a growth strategy. The firms thriving in the years ahead won’t be those simply with the most clients. They’ll be the ones building strong, enduring teams. Teams that stay. Teams that scale. Teams that serve generations of clients, because they were built by leaders thinking generations ahead.
Those who embrace this opportunity will not only lead this new frontier of growth, but also build legacies of impact for generations to come.
John Roberts is executive vice president and chief field officer at Northwestern Mutual.
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