The pace of advisor movement held steady in 2024, with approximately 35,000 registered representatives changing firms – a figure nearly identical to 2023, according to the latest data from ISS Market Intelligence.
Despite the steady 4.4 percent rate of reps departing their firms in both years, the report found long-term trends continue to reshape the wealth management landscape, including rising interest in independence and a pronounced shift toward fee-based models.
According to the research, LPL Financial significantly outpaced competitors in growing its representative base. The firm posted a net gain of 8,309 reps from 2020 to 2024 – nearly double the combined net additions of the next nine largest independent broker-dealers. That expansion pushed LPL’s share of the independent space from 16 percent to 24 percent during the five-year span.
By contrast, Ameriprise Financial and Commonwealth Financial Network – which is being absorbed into LPL in a $2.7 billion blockbuster deal – posted more modest gains, adding just 699 and 601 reps, respectively. Despite those additions, both firms trailed far behind LPL in terms of recruiting momentum and market share.
"A rising rep count appears to have fueled faster asset growth – LPL’s AUM grew 24% annually over the past five years, compared to 15% for Ameriprise and 16% for Commonwealth," the report noted.
Following a spike in movement during the immediate post-pandemic years, the report said advisor transitions have returned to historical norms. However, the underlying motivations for rep movement are shifting in ways that could have a longer-lasting impact.
ISS data revealed a persistent home channel bias, with departing reps continuing to leave for firms within the same channel. But a growing share are switching models entirely, opting for more control, higher payouts, and stronger technological infrastructure – features often found in independent and RIA environments.
Notably, the RIA channel emerged as the top net gainer from channel switchers. Since 2020, approximately 10 percent of wirehouse reps have exited to join other distribution models. RIAs alone netted 8,739 reps from other channels, including over 5,000 from the independent channel overall.
Mirroring InvestmentNews' internal research, the report found wirehouse firms continued to shed advisors at a faster pace than other channels, with rep counts declining 12 percent from 2020 to 2024. Wells Fargo and Merrill Lynch recorded the steepest declines, while Morgan Stanley showed slight growth.
Even amid these headwinds, wirehouses remained active recruiters. Merrill Lynch, in particular, added nearly as many new reps as Morgan Stanley and remained among the top hirers industrywide.
"Even as overall rep numbers decline, asset managers must engage with a steady stream of new advisors, especially at firms actively growing their talent base," the report said.
The report also underscored an upward movement in dual registrations. While the number of reps registered exclusively as broker-dealers declined 18 percent over the past five years, the RIA category grew 28 percent. Dual registrants – those affiliated as both broker-dealer and RIA – grew 4 percent.
This growth reflects advisors’ responses to regulatory developments, including Finra’s Regulation Best Interest rule, as well as a broader industry tilt toward holistic, fiduciary-based planning.
Advisory M&A activity also remains a significant contributor to rep movement. In a 2024 ISS Market Intelligence survey, 33 percent of advisors anticipating practice changes in the next 12 to 24 months said they expected to acquire another firm. Another 15 percent expected to join an RIA aggregator, start their own firm, or move to a different broker-dealer.
That mirrors a February 2024 research report from Cerulli, which found growth and market share would continue to accrue mostly among billon dollar-plus RIAs, with breakaways leaving their W2 roots for large RIAs that promise more autonomy.
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