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Intelligence for independent RIA firm leaders. Published weekly.
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Latest Articles
74 articles. full-text search enabled
Looking for our published hiring benchmark? See The RIA Talent Report.
Hiring Strategy
Hiring a COO for an RIA: When and Who to Hire
When an RIA needs its first COO, what the seat owns, who to hire, and what our three most recent COO hires accepted: $160,000 to $
Market Intelligence
What Remote Work Is Really Doing to Advisor Hiring
Beyond the return-to-office debate, remote and hybrid work are reshaping advisor recruiting pools, licensing rules, mentorship, an
Market Intelligence
How AI Is Changing the Financial Advisor Job Itself
AI is reshaping daily advisor work, not just hiring. Here's what firm owners need to know about the job changing under their feet.
Market Intelligence
Wirehouse Decline: What It Means for RIA Recruiting
Wirehouse market share keeps shrinking. Here's what that shift actually means for how RIA firms find and win advisor talent.
Market Intelligence
How to Recruit Younger Financial Advisors Now
The advisor pipeline has changed. Here's how firms are adjusting recruiting strategy to attract and keep younger financial advisor
Market Intelligence
What Advisor Job Satisfaction Data Really Shows
Headline satisfaction numbers look strong, but the details reveal why so many advisors still quietly consider a move. Here's what
Market Intelligence
Where Financial Advisor Hiring Is Headed Next
Advisor demand is outpacing supply. Here's what the hiring market's current pressures mean for recruiting strategy over the next f
Compensation
Do Benefits Packages Sway Advisors More Than Pay?
Compensation opens the door, but benefits and culture often decide the move. Here's how much a benefits package really weighs in a
Compensation
What a Competitive Wirehouse Advisor Package Looks Like
Recruiting a senior advisor off a wirehouse platform takes more than a big check. Here's what a real, competitive transition packa
Compensation
Earn-Out Provisions in Advisor Hires: How They Work
A plain-language guide to earn-out provisions when hiring an advisor with an existing book, including the most common ways they br
Compensation
Building a Partnership Track Top Advisors Won't Leave
How firm owners structure real equity and partnership paths that give top producers a reason to stay instead of testing recruiters
Compensation
W-2 vs 1099 Advisors: What Actually Changes
W-2 and 1099 status change taxes, benefits, control, and liability for advisors and firms. Here's what actually shifts for both si
Compensation
Forgivable Loans in Advisor Recruiting: When They Backfire
Forgivable loans lure advisors with upfront cash, but poorly structured deals can trigger clawbacks, tax bills, and lawsuits. Here
Compensation
Deferred Comp as Advisor Retention: What Works, What Fails
How deferred compensation plans retain financial advisors, where vesting structures backfire, and what firm owners should build in
Compensation
Advisor Pay Beyond Base: Grids, Bonus, Equity
Base salary is only part of an advisor's pay. How bonuses, payout grids, equity and benefits add up, and how to compare two offers
Hiring Strategy
Advisor Employment Contracts: What to Check First
A practical checklist for firms and candidates reviewing a financial advisor employment contract before anyone signs on the dotted
Hiring Strategy
RIA Compliance Basics Before Your First Hire
What an RIA owner must put in writing, register, and insure before bringing on the firm's first employee.
Hiring Strategy
The Right Order to Hire Roles as an RIA Scales
Hiring out of sequence is a common reason RIA growth stalls. Here's the order firms should add roles as they scale past the founde
Hiring Strategy
The One-Person RIA's First Hire: What Really Changes
A solo RIA's first advisor hire reshapes client capacity and firm identity, but not culture, systems, or decision-making overnight
Hiring Strategy
When to Hire Ops Staff Before Your Next Advisor
A guide to knowing when an RIA should build out operations and support staff before adding another producing advisor.
Hiring Strategy
How to Calculate Revenue per Advisor at an RIA
Revenue per advisor is firm revenue divided by advisors. How to calculate it, what one support hire does to it per Kitces Research
Hiring Strategy
Advisor Background Checks: Beyond the License Lookup
A license lookup only shows registered disclosures. Here's what a thorough advisor background check should cover before you make a
Hiring Strategy
First Outside Advisor Hire: A Guide With No Playbook
Hiring your firm's first outside advisor without a process in place? Here's how to structure the search, the role, and the decisio
Hiring Strategy
Hiring a Junior Advisor: The First Year, Realistically
What growing RIAs should actually expect from a junior advisor's first year, from revenue timelines to onboarding costs and career
RIA Growth
Mentorship Beats Signing Bonuses for Advisor Retention
Signing bonuses buy a start date. A real mentorship program is what keeps young advisors at your firm for years. Here's why it wor
RIA Growth
The Great Wealth Transfer Is Changing Advisor Hiring
The great wealth transfer is pushing RIAs to compete harder for a narrower kind of advisor. Here's which profiles firms want now.
RIA Growth
What Clients Really Do When Their Advisor Moves Firms
Do clients actually follow their advisor to a new firm? Here's what really happens during a transition, and what drives client ret
RIA Growth
Finding Advisors Who Truly Specialize in Estate Planning
Most resumes list estate planning as a skill. Few advisors actually coordinate it well. Here's how firms tell the difference.
RIA Growth
Leaving Morgan Stanley Without Losing Your Book
A practical guide for Morgan Stanley advisors on protecting client relationships during a departure, since the firm left the Broke
RIA Growth
Recruiting for a Niche Wealth Practice: Small Talent Pools
When your ideal advisor hire is one of a few hundred people nationwide, standard recruiting playbooks fail. Here's what actually w
RIA Growth
Recruiting for a Family Office: A Different Advisor Profile
Family office searches need a different candidate than a standard RIA hire. Here's how the profile, comp, and vetting process chan
RIA Growth
Recruiting Advisors Who Truly Serve UHNW Families
Many advisors claim the ultra-high-net-worth segment. Few can actually serve it. Here's how firms tell the difference before they
RIA Growth
Non-Compete Clauses for Advisors: What to Check First
A guide to reading non-compete and non-solicit clauses in advisor contracts, what usually holds up in court, and what to negotiate
RIA Growth
How to Move a Book of Business Without a Lawsuit
A practical guide to transitioning client accounts between firms while staying inside the legal lines that actually get enforced.
RIA Growth
Leaving Merrill Lynch: A Pre-Resignation Planning Guide
What advisors leaving Merrill Lynch need to know about clawbacks, deferred comp, the Broker Protocol, and client transition before
RIA Growth
RIA vs. Wirehouse: What the Payout Percentage Hides
Payout percentage is only one piece of the RIA versus wirehouse decision. Here's what advisors weighing a move should actually com
RIA Growth
Starting an RIA From Scratch: Sequencing Mistakes
The order matters as much as the decisions themselves. Here's the sequencing advisors most often get wrong in year one of starting
RIA Growth
Going Independent: The Real Step-by-Step Sequence
What actually happens when an advisor leaves to go independent, from the first phone call to the last client transfer, step by ste
Working With a Recruiter
Why a Fiduciary Mindset Matters in a Recruiter
Firms trust fiduciaries with client money. Here's why that same standard should apply to the recruiter running your next advisor s
Working With a Recruiter
Retained Search Fees: Worth It or Just Positioning?
Retained search fees can feel steep upfront. Here's how to tell when the model earns its cost for a wealth management hire and whe
Working With a Recruiter
The Protocol for Broker Recruiting, Explained
How the Protocol for Broker Recruiting shapes advisor moves, and what changes legally and practically when a firm is not a signato
Working With a Recruiter
What an In-House Recruiter Structurally Cannot Do
An internal recruiting function has real limits. Here's what an independent advisor recruiter offers that in-house hiring structur
Working With a Recruiter
When Does a Leadership Hire Need Executive Search?
Advisor searches and leadership searches are not the same process. Here's how to know when a CEO, COO, or CIO hire calls for execu
Working With a Recruiter
Signs a Financial Advisor Recruiter Deserves Your Trust
How to tell a trustworthy financial advisor recruiter from one who will leak your search. Concrete signs to check before you sign
Working With a Recruiter
Contingency vs. Engaged Search for Advisor Hires
Contingency and engaged search fees change how hard a recruiter works your search. Here's what firm owners need to know before sig
Working With a Recruiter
Boutique vs. National Recruiting Firms: What Really Differs
Boutique and national advisor recruiting firms trade off reach, attention, and specialization differently. Here's how to choose th
Working With a Recruiter
Specialist vs. Generalist Advisor Recruiters: What Differs
Not every staffing firm understands wealth management. Here's how to tell a true advisor recruiting specialist from a generalist a
Working With a Recruiter
Specialized Advisor Recruiter vs. General Staffing
How to tell when a wealth management firm needs a niche advisor recruiter, not a general staffing agency, before signing any engag
Working With a Recruiter
How Advisor Recruiters Get Paid, and Why It Matters
A breakdown of contingency, retained, and hybrid recruiter fees, and what each structure means for whether your recruiter's incent
Compensation
Retention Bonuses in M&A: Why Deal Value Depends on Them
Buyers now price advisor retention into the deal itself. Here's how retention bonuses and earn-outs are reshaping RIA M&A valuatio
Market Intelligence
Why Advisors Leave After a Merger: It's Not the Money
Cultural mismatch, not compensation, drives most post-merger advisor attrition. Here's what firm owners should watch for before an
Compensation
Advisor Pay by Firm Size: Sub-$100M to $1B+ RIAs
What a sub-$100M practice, a $250M to $500M team and a $1B+ RIA can each credibly offer an advisor, and where firms make the wrong
Hiring Strategy
Recruiter vs. Referral Network vs. In-House Hiring
Outside recruiter, referral network, or platform in-house team: a side-by-side look at speed, cost, and candidate reach for adviso
Working With a Recruiter
Confidential vs Open Searches: Fee Structures Explained
Confidential and openly posted advisor searches require different work. Here's why the fee structure and scope should look differe
Hiring Strategy
How to Vet a Recruiter's Confidentiality Practices
A partner-level advisor's guide to vetting recruiter confidentiality: what to ask, what to check, and the red flags that signal a
Hiring Strategy
Hiring an Advisor Mid-Acquisition: What Changes
Recruiting into a firm with an unresolved deal changes the pitch, the diligence, and the timeline. Here's what firms and candidate
Hiring Strategy
Advisor Reference Checks: Red Flags Beyond Dates
Confirming employment dates isn't a reference check. Here's what hiring firms should actually listen for when vetting advisor cand
Market Intelligence
Financial Advisor Recruiting Trends 2026
Advisor demand still outpaces supply. What our searches show: where pay is shifting, what keeps a search near our median, and what
Hiring Strategy
How to Hire a Financial Advisor: Complete Firm Guide
Learn how to hire a financial advisor the right way. This complete guide covers sourcing, screening, offers, and onboarding for RI
RIA Growth
How to Recruit Financial Advisors Remotely for Your RIA
Limiting your search to commuting distance means fishing in a small pond for advisors who could work from anywhere. How to intervi
RIA Growth
Financial Advisor Recruiting in Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona
Phoenix and Scottsdale advisors split into two groups with opposite priorities: relocating veterans want less bureaucracy, homegro
Market Intelligence
RIA Succession Planning: Finding Your Successor
A rushed 12-month handoff asks loyal clients to trust a stranger, and many won't. Why real succession planning takes years, not mo
RIA Growth
Financial Advisor Burnout: Warning Signs and What Firms Should Do
Disengagement usually shows up 6 to 12 months before an advisor resigns, in withdrawn meetings and slower client callbacks. What f
RIA Growth
Why Financial Advisors Leave Firms (And How to Stop It)
Compensation is usually the reason advisors give for leaving, rarely the reason they actually go. What's really driving departures
Hiring Strategy
CFP vs. Non-CFP: Which Credential Matters Most When Hiring an Advisor?
The CFP mark proves competence, not whether someone can close business or fit your culture. When the designation matters for hirin
Market Intelligence
How Small RIA Firms Can Compete for Top Advisor Talent
You can't outbid a large RIA's signing bonus, but you can move in days instead of months and offer real, undiluted equity. How sma
Compensation
AUM-Based vs. Fee-Only Compensation: What It Means for Recruiting
Fee-only is a fiduciary designation, not a pay structure, and most fee-only advisors are still paid on AUM. Why that mix-up costs
Hiring Strategy
The True Cost of a Bad Financial Advisor Hire
A failed advisor hire typically costs one to two years of their pay once you count recruiting, training, and the clients who don't
RIA Growth
What Do Top Financial Advisors Really Want in a Job Offer?
Top advisors read a vague compensation structure as a red flag before they read it as an insult. What separates offers that close
Hiring Strategy
How to Onboard a New Financial Advisor Successfully
Firms that go silent for three weeks after signing an offer risk losing the advisor to a counteroffer before day one. What the fir
Hiring Strategy
How to Interview a Financial Advisor Candidate the Right Way
Resumes show what a candidate has done; interviews show how they did it. Specific questions that separate individual achievement f
Hiring Strategy
How to Write a Financial Advisor Job Description That Attracts Top Talent
Most financial advisor postings read like compliance documents and repel the candidates worth having. What to say instead, and wha
Compensation
How Much Do Financial Advisors Make? $60K to $400K
What RIAs pay advisors, from accepted offers on our searches: entry from $60,000, lead advisors $150,000 to $250,000, and how payo
Working With a Recruiter
RIA Recruiter: What to Look for and How to Choose One
How to choose an RIA recruiter who actually knows the space. The Well breaks down what separates real wealth management search fir