For RIAs Choosing Who to Call · Checked October 21, 2026
RIA Staff Recruiters Compared:
Which One Fits Which Hire.
Written by The Well, one of the firms compared below. Every other firm's row comes from its own website, read on the date shown, with a link to the page we read.
How to Read This Page
How to Read This Comparison of RIA Staff Recruiters
We are a recruiter, so this page is not neutral, and we say so first. What we can do is be accurate: each firm is described in its own words, from its own site, with the date we read it. There are no rankings, no ratings and no winners. Each row ends with the hire that firm fits, and several of those are hires we would send elsewhere.
We started from the recruiters that show up when firms search for help hiring advisors and staff, and from the firms named in a third-party review of our market. We added the options that are not recruiters at all, because many RIA seats are filled without one. We left out firms whose sites we could not read directly on the day, and we will add them when we can.
If we have described your firm wrongly, email us and we will correct the row and change the date. We re-check every row each quarter.
Six Ways to Hire
The Ways an RIA Fills a Seat, With or Without a Recruiter
- Contingency specialist recruiter. Paid when you hire someone they introduced. Works well when the right person is not looking and you want a search worked without paying up front.
- Retained executive search. Paid in stages, usually starting at kickoff. Fits leadership and confidential searches, where a mapped market and a senior partner on the search are worth the fee.
- Fixed-fee staff search. A set price per role. Fits a staff hire on a known budget; the one we found published runs its searches on job ads and screened applicants.
- Custodian talent programs. Custodians run programs for the firms they serve; Schwab's is called RIA Talent Advantage. Useful for resources, interns and job boards rather than a run search.
- Job boards and the planner associations. The CFP Board, NAPFA and FPA chapters run career centers. Fit seats with plenty of active applicants, if you have time to screen them yourself.
- In-house recruiting. A person on your payroll. Makes sense at high, steady hiring volume; see what an in-house recruiter cannot do.
The Comparison
RIA Staff Recruiters and Hiring Options Compared
Read on October 21, 2026. "None published" means the firm's site did not state one, not that it has none.
| Firm or option | Model, in their words | Mainly serves | Published price | Published data | Choose them when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Well (us) pricing | Direct Hire Search (contingent), ScaleWell partnership, Retained Executive Search | Wealth management firms of every model: advisors, staff and leaders | Yes: nothing to start, 25% of first-year OTE on acceptance | The RIA Talent Report, H1 2026; open benchmarks | You want published terms and a search worked for advisor, staff or leadership seats where the right person is not looking |
| RIA Recruiting site | "we operate on a fixed-fee basis" | Advisory firms hiring staff | "$7,500 to $20,000 depending on the position" | None found | You want a fixed price for a staff hire and are happy for the search to run on job ads and screened applicants |
| New Planner Recruiting site | Planner placement plus consulting | Financial planners and the firms hiring them | None published | 2026 Salary Report (behind a form) | You are hiring planners, especially early in their careers, or want hiring-strategy consulting |
| Leah Yosef International site | Retained executive search | Single and multi-family offices and RIAs | None published | 2026 to 2027 Private Wealth & Investment Management Compensation Guide | You want a retained search, especially for a family office |
| Diamond Consultants site | Advisor recruiting, M&A, executive search and consulting | Advisors considering a move, advisor teams, RIA buyers and sellers, RIAs hiring | None published | Advisor Transition Report; 2026 Wirehouse-Focused Transition Report | You are recruiting an established advisor team with a book, or exploring a sale or acquisition |
| Lead Advisor site | Job board, talent search and consulting (riahire.com now redirects here) | Wealth management firms hiring; professionals changing careers | Job board: $250 or $750 a month (pricing) | "The DASH" monthly hiring-trends email | You want to post a role to a wealth management audience and screen applicants yourself |
| Boutique Recruiting site | Recruiting firm across 20+ practice areas, with a job board | Employers in many fields, including a wealth management practice | None published | 2026 Salary Guide; monthly job-market updates | You want one recruiter for wealth management roles and roles outside the industry, such as accounting |
| JRG Partners site | "Retained, Engaged and Contingent Talent Search Services" | Executive searches across many sectors, including RIAs, family offices and private banks | None published | None found | You need a CEO, COO, compliance or other executive and want a firm that also searches outside wealth management |
| Cowen Partners site | Wealth management executive search | Banks, credit unions, private wealth firms, family offices and asset managers, C-suite to director | None published | None found | You need a senior wealth executive from a firm that also searches across banking and asset management |
| Right Executive Search site | "a boutique executive search and recruiting firm", financial services only | RIAs, wealth firms, hybrid platforms, broker-dealers, family offices, trust companies | None published | None found | You want a financial-services-only firm for client service, planning, operations, compliance or leadership roles |
| Select Advisors Institute site | Marketing, coaching and training, with a recruiter service and fractional HR | Advisors and RIAs, CPA firms, private banks | None published | None found | You want recruiting help alongside marketing, coaching or HR support |
| Alexander Raymond site | Executive search and contract staffing (Sanford Rose Associates network) | Wealth management, trust, private banking, RIA and family office practices | None published | None found | You are hiring in trust, private banking or bank wealth |
| CFP Board Career Center site | Job board run by CFP Board | Employers hiring CFP professionals | Not stated on the employer page | None found | You want to reach CFP professionals directly with a posting |
| NAPFA Career Center site | Job board | Fee-only planning firms and professionals | Not stated on the page we read | None found | You are a fee-only firm hiring from the NAPFA community |
Firms we could not read directly on October 21, 2026, and so left out for now: Selby Jennings, BrokerHunter, Schwab RIA Talent Advantage and the FPA chapter career centers. Quotation marks show the firm's own wording.
Before You Sign
What to Ask Any RIA Recruiter Before You Sign
Whoever you call, including us, these questions sort the firms that fit your seat from the ones that do not.
- Who pays you, and when? Before a hire, on acceptance, or in stages, and whether any of it is refundable.
- What happens at day 60? Many searches are still open then. Ask what it costs to keep going, and whether that is your decision.
- What if we hire someone you introduced later? Ask how long an introduction stays yours to be paid on. At The Well it is a year from the introduction.
- How many candidates will we see, and how? A resume pile and a written brief with a video profile are different products.
- Do you work our seat for us alone? Ask whether the recruiter is showing the same candidates to other firms at the same time.
- What do you publish? Fees, results, data. A firm that publishes its terms is easier to hold to them.
- How do you protect confidentiality? Ask when a candidate's name reaches you and who else sees it. At The Well, a name is shared only with the candidate's permission and only with a firm that has signed a search agreement.
These seven questions are a starting point. Our guides go further: how to choose an RIA recruiter and signs a recruiter deserves your trust.
Our Limits
When The Well Is Not the Right RIA Recruiter
We are a young firm: we started in November 2023, and our own report says so. We have served 154+ wealth management firms since, with searches that run from a four-person Dallas RIA's senior advisor to a $25B platform's planner across four states (see our case studies). Our direct hire search is contingent, with a role minimum and a $5,000 continuation fee at day 60 if you choose to keep going. Some hires are better served elsewhere:
- A one-off client service hire on a fixed budget. A fixed-fee staff search or a job board may fit better.
- A firm that only needs applicants. Post on the planner association boards and screen yourself.
- An advisor team moving with a book, or a deal attached. We do not do M&A advisory, book-of-business transfers or breakaway deals; a transition specialist is the right call.
We are the right call when the person you need is not looking, when the seat is an advisor, operations or leadership role at a wealth management firm, and when you want published terms. 78% of the advisors we placed in the first half of 2026 were not looking when we first reached them. See our RIA recruiters page for how we work.
Cost
How RIA Recruiter Fee Models Compare on Cost
Few firms publish a price, so a fair cost comparison is by model, not by firm. A contingency fee is paid only on a hire; ours is 25% of first-year OTE, so a $180,000 role carries a $45,000 fee. A retained search is paid in stages whether or not it ends in a hire. A fixed fee is known in advance; the one we found published runs $7,500 to $20,000 a role. A job board costs a posting fee and your own time. Our guide to the cost of hiring a financial advisor sets the models side by side, with the cost of the empty seat while you wait.
Client Voices
What RIA Owners Say After Choosing Us
Reviewed by our founder, Steve Perry, who joined New York Life as an advisor in 2006, spent 17 years there and led a 125-person firm as Managing Partner. He wrote The Capacity Model (2021) and has talked about building advisory teams on The Advisors Edge Podcast. WealthManagement.com covered our RIA Talent Report in August 2026.
Firms we have recruited for include Merit Financial Advisors, SEIA, Mission Wealth, Focus Financial, Coldstream Wealth Management, Mutual Advisors, Avior Wealth Management, Sowell Management, Oak Harvest Financial Group, Prosperity Capital Advisors, Lloyd Advisory Group and Thoreson Steffes Trust Company.
Straight Answers
Questions About Choosing an RIA Recruiter
Which recruiters specialize in RIAs?
Several firms on this page work only or mostly in wealth management, and each describes its focus in the table above, in its own words. We do not rank them; the "choose them when" column says which hire each one fits.
What is the difference between a recruiter and a staffing agency for an RIA?
A recruiter searches for a specific person for your seat, usually including people who are not looking. A staffing agency or job board mostly works from people who have applied. Many firms on this page do some of both.
Are custodian talent programs a substitute for a recruiter?
Sometimes. They are useful for interns, resources and reaching active candidates. For a seat where the right person is not looking, a run search is the better tool.
Do any RIA recruiters publish their prices?
On October 21, 2026, two of the recruiters on this page published a price: The Well (25% of first-year OTE, nothing to start) and RIA Recruiting ($7,500 to $20,000 a role). Lead Advisor publishes its job board prices.
Should I use more than one recruiter on the same seat?
It can widen the net on a contingent search, but it costs you: recruiters put less into a seat they may not fill, candidates can hear about the role twice, and confidentiality is harder to keep. For a senior or confidential seat, one firm working it for you alone is usually the better choice.
How often is this page updated?
Every quarter, with the date at the top. If a firm's row is wrong, tell us and we will correct it before then.
A Second Opinion
Not Sure Which RIA Recruiter Fits Your Hire?
Tell us about the seat. We will tell you which model fits it, even if it is not us.
Tell Us About the Seat
We'll follow up within one business day.
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