What We Charge
RIA Recruiting Fees, Published.
No Fee to Start. No Surprises.
Starting a search costs nothing. You pay when you hire someone we introduced, and if the search is still open at day 60, you decide whether we keep going. White-glove search for independent advisory firms, client service associate to CEO, advisors included. We publish our fees because a search firm that will not tell you what it charges is telling you something.
Three Ways to Work With Us
Three Recruiting Models, Priced by How Often You Hire.
One or two hires a year is a different problem from six, and a CEO search is different again. Direct hire search is the common starting point: nothing to begin, you pay when you hire. The other two are priced differently, and we say how on the call.
155+ wealth management firms served · median search under eight weeks from kickoff to accepted offer · Rated on 175 Google reviews, as of October 2026
Most Common
Direct Hire Search
For advisory firms hiring one to three people this year. A dedicated search specialist on your seat, with no fee to begin.
To Start
$0
If the search is still open at 60 days, a $5,000 continuation fee keeps it running and is credited toward your placement fee.
Placement Fee
25% of OTE
Due on offer acceptance. Role minimums apply and we walk you through them on the call.
- Dedicated search specialist from day one
- AI-powered sourcing via The Brain
- Access to The Vault, our proprietary passive candidate network
- Video-first screening on every candidate before your calendar is touched
- A search worked until the seat is filled, not to a candidate quota
- Counter-offer prep and resignation coaching through to the start date
Ongoing Partnership
ScaleWell
For firms where hiring is now an operational function. One ongoing partnership instead of starting a new search from scratch each time.
Savings vs. Hiring In-House
30 to 50%
Exact pricing built around your firm's hiring roadmap. Requires 4+ hires per year to qualify.
- Everything in Direct Hire Search, for every role
- Dedicated Talent Planning session included
- Priority access to The Vault for every open role
- Discounted per-hire economics at volume
- Talent roadmap built around your growth plan
- One partner who knows your firm, no re-briefing each search
- ScaleWell pricing locked for the contract year
Executive Level
Retained Executive Search
For C-suite, CPA/EA, and senior roles that need partner-level attention and a mapped market.
Structure
Fully Retained
Fee structure is built to the scope of the search. Refund terms vary by engagement, and we set both out with you on the call.
- Full market mapping before the first candidate is contacted
- Senior partner oversight throughout
- Board or ownership-level coordination as needed
- Offer structuring and negotiation support
- Extended replacement provision (terms detailed in your service agreement)
Before You Pay Anything
No Fee to Start a Direct Hire Search. You Decide at 60 Days.
There is no fee to start a search. We do the discovery, the sourcing, and the screening before you have paid us anything. If we never introduce someone you hire, you never pay a placement fee.
The one thing that is owed before a hire: if the search is still open at 60 days and you want us to keep going, that is a $5,000 continuation fee, credited toward the placement fee for that role. It is your call, not an automatic charge.
What It Looks Like
What a Direct Hire Search Buys a Small RIA Firm.
A four-person Dallas RIA managing about $500 million had tried to hire a senior wealth advisor on its own for months. The candidates it found were too junior, too expensive or simply the wrong profile. We presented seven candidates, and the firm went from kickoff to accepted offer in under six weeks, in April 2026.
That is the work the placement fee pays for: the discovery call with the principal, then the sourcing and video screening, all done before the firm spends an hour on a candidate who does not fit, and the counter-offer preparation once the offer is out.
"We have hired several candidates from The Well and are happy with the quality."Melisa Bingham, BOSS Retirement Solutions
The Math
The Cost of a Hire Against the Cost of an Open Advisor Seat.
The Schwab RIA Benchmarking Study puts average annual advisor production at $625,000. That is roughly $52,000 a month a producing seat does not earn while it sits empty. On an advisor role at $180,000 OTE, our placement fee is $45,000, due only when the candidate you hire accepts the offer. Our median search runs under eight weeks from kickoff to accepted offer.
Not every seat produces revenue. A client service, operations or compliance hire pays back in capacity: hours your advisors get back, clients who are served faster, a lead advisor who stops doing the work of two. Those are harder to put a number on, and we will not pretend otherwise.
Run your own numbers in the ROI calculator The full cost of hiring a financial advisor
Common Questions
Recruiting Fees, Answered.
What does OTE mean?
On-Target Earnings: the first-year earnings figure written into the candidate's job offer. That is why we ask for a copy of the signed offer letter, so the figure the fee is calculated from is the one actually offered. For an advisor role at $180k OTE, the placement fee is $45,000 (25% of $180k). Any continuation fee already paid on that search is credited against it.
What is the continuation fee, and why does it exist?
$5,000, if a search is still open at 60 days and you want us to keep going. It is credited toward the placement fee for that role.
Most searches close before then. The ones that do not are usually one of two things: your team is running a deliberate, in-depth interview process, or the role is genuinely hard because of where it sits or what it asks for. Neither is a problem. Both take longer.
What we cannot do is keep working an open search indefinitely for nothing, particularly when the requirements have moved and the work effectively restarts. By 60 days you have seen how we work and you can judge it. If the process has been worth it, most firms have no issue with the fee. If it has not been, and we have not filled the role, you do not pay it.
If a direct hire search costs nothing up front, what keeps you working it?
We are only paid if you hire someone we introduced, so a search we do not fill earns us nothing. It is also why we are direct about which roles we take: we would rather decline a search than carry one we cannot fill. Our median search runs under eight weeks from kickoff to accepted offer, and across a full quarter of placements it was 44.5 days. ScaleWell and Retained Executive Search are built differently and do carry fees that are not contingent on a placement. We walk through whichever structure fits your firm on the call.
What if we need to pause or cancel the search?
Either side can end the agreement early, on the written notice set out in your service agreement. Because nothing is owed up front, there is nothing to settle when you cancel. The one exception: a continuation fee you have already paid is not refunded. One thing to know: if you hire someone we introduced within a year of that introduction, the placement fee is still due, whether or not the agreement is still running.
How can the placement fee come down?
By hiring with us regularly, or by moving quickly once you meet a candidate. Firms that do either get better economics from us, and firms making four or more hires a year usually move to ScaleWell. We set out what applies to your search on the call.
When is the placement fee due?
In full when the candidate accepts the offer, not on their start date.
Is ScaleWell available for our first search?
Most ScaleWell relationships start with one or two direct hire searches. We will be direct about when ScaleWell makes sense versus when a single search is the right starting point. Learn more about ScaleWell or submit a ScaleWell inquiry.
Do candidates pay anything?
No. The hiring firm pays our fee. A candidate never pays us a dollar, at any stage, whether or not they are placed.
One call with an RIA recruiter. We will tell you if we are wrong for the search.
Thirty minutes, confidential. We walk you through our process and tell you honestly whether we are the right partner for your next search. We reply to firms within one business day.
Fees reviewed by Steve Perry, Founder and CEO. Current as of October 2026.