Advisors thinking of making a move should devote serious thought to its impact on their clients, according to Jared Rabinowitz, CEO and Founding Partner at Q Wealth.
Speaking during a panel discussion at the Canadian Lounge at the Future Proof festival in Huntington Beach, Calif., the CEO of the Toronto-based firm said that advisors should run a thought experiment before they jump ship.
“What they should do is sit down at a table with an empty chair across from them and imagine any one of their favorite clients in that chair and think about what is the story from the perspective of the client that I will tell them about?”
Advisors should think also about how the move is going to make that client’s experience richer, deeper, and better, according to Rabinowitz. “Because at the end of the day, the move can't just be all about money - it's got to be about what is improving the experience for the client,” he said.
Advisor moves have recently hit a record. Earlier this year a report from Diamond Consultants found that 11,172 advisors more than three years’ experience changed firms last year, up 16.2% increase from the prior year. Set against this backdrop, advisor recruiting has become something of an arms race in 2026.
Speaking during Tuesday’s panel Josh Brown, CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and co-founder of Future Proof offered his perspective as a potential hirer of advisors. “We only hire 1 or 2 advisors a year,” he said, noting that Ritholtz meets with about 100 over that time frame.
He told the audience that he asks himself a simple question whenever there is a potential new hire. “Would I bring this person home to have dinner with my family?” he said. “If the answer is even maybe, forget it.”
“And put aside how much money they have under management, how much revenue they can generate - put all that aside,” he added. “Is this person annoying? It's so underrated.”
“Put all that aside. Is this person annoying?” he said, prompting laughter from the audience. “It's so underrated - if they're annoying in the hiring process, the interview process, can you imagine once they're like inside the house?”
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