Despite their shrinking number of advisers, wirehouses are more productive than other channels, averaging $198 million in assets under management per adviser compared with $88.1 million across all the industry, according to a report by Boston-based researcher Cerulli.
Wirehouse AUM per rep increased 14.4% year-over-year, the study found. But as the wirehouses prioritize productivity, other advisory channels are capturing market share, Cerulli said.
“The wirehouse channel, which has lost 6.2 percentage points in asset market share since 2010, is projected to cede an additional 6.5 percentage points of total asset market share by year-end 2025,” Cerulli said.
It projects that by 2025, 30.6% of the industry’s assets will be managed by advisers in the independent and hybrid registered investment adviser channels. The national/regional broker-dealer channel (at 15.2%) is already overtaking the wirehouse channel (at 14.9%) in head count market share, Cerulli said.
“Wirehouses are playing to their strength and providing advisers with the tools they need to capture and grow wealth,” Marina Shtyrkov, an associate director at the firm and author of the report, U.S. Advisor Metrics 2021: Client Acquisition in the Digital Age, said in a statement.
The hundreds of millions of dollars from a sale of Inspired Healthcare properties does not mean an immediate windfall for investors.
"Most pre-retirees are uncomfortable making key retirement income decisions without an advisor's help," said Chris Bailey of Cerulli.
Also, Summit Wealth Group nabs a Commonwealth advisor in Tennessee, Oxford Financial adds two managing directors, and Verdence draws an ultra-high-net-worth advisor from Fidelity.
When advisors have tech to handle meeting prep and organization, it frees up time they can reinvest more thoughtfully into helping clients.
LPL Financial and Raymond James also add independent advisors from Osaic and Edward Jones in Michigan and Arizona.
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