#490
We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
Published:
May 30, 2023
Author:
Sarah Parsons Wolter
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Everyone is on the move, and we’re not only talking about Memorial Day Weekend travel. Rather, 2022 was a year of major changes in the advisor industry, with 9% of US advisors – 26,000 in total – breaking away from their prior employers to switch firms or start their own.
While some upheaval was due to M&A and other structural changes throughout the industry, others cited a frustration with vast compliance oversight and payment schemes based on internal referrals. As smaller firms have been rolled up into larger organizations, many have chosen to chart their own paths rather than adapt to these new conditions.
Technology has no doubt been a major driver enabling this exodus. RIA teams no longer are bound to their firms at all costs, but instead now have a plethora of tech-enabled and outsourced back-office alternatives that can make independence an attractive reality.
Irrespective of affiliation, RIAs make up the backbone of the US wealth management ecosystem, managing $31t in total retail assets across 16k firms and 300k advisors. The jury is still out if these newly established free agents will lead as lucrative careers as some of those players in other industries, though.
Portfolio News
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We Gotta Get Out Of This Place
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Industry News
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Select Financings
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