AdvizorPro data on advisor movement, firm tenure, and recruiting dynamics was featured across several leading publications in spring 2026, including ThinkAdvisor, Financial Planning, and InvestmentNews. Taken together, the coverage paints a picture of a talent market that is both highly active and increasingly data-driven.

Advisor Firm-Switching Hit a Multi-Year High in 2025

According to AdvizorPro data cited by ThinkAdvisor, 39,171 advisors moved to a different firm in 2025, representing a year-over-year increase of nearly 4,000. The broader context is significant: nearly 35,000 RIA firms employ five or fewer representatives, meaning the movement of even small numbers of advisors can meaningfully reshape a firm's competitive position.

AdvizorPro tracks advisor moves as part of its broader dataset covering 750,000+ registered investment advisors, family offices, and broker-dealers. For a closer look at how these moves are trending month to month, the AdvizorPro Advisor Moves: April 2026 report breaks down the firms with the highest net inflows and outflows.

Raymond James Led the Commonwealth Fallout

After LPL Financial acquired Commonwealth Financial Network, which had approximately 3,000 advisors and $305 billion in client assets at the time of purchase, many Commonwealth advisors began evaluating their options. According to AdvizorPro data cited in Financial Planning, Raymond James picked up 145 Commonwealth advisors in the year following the acquisition, outpacing other independent broker-dealers and regional firms in capturing departing teams.

The most recent example, covered in May 2026, involved Financial Strategies Retirement Partners, a 24-person team managing approximately $2.8 billion in client assets that moved from Commonwealth to Raymond James Financial Services in Bedford, New Hampshire. The firm includes $1 billion in private wealth assets under management and $1.8 billion in employer-sponsored retirement plans.

Industry recruiter Phil Waxelbaum of Masada Consulting noted that the Commonwealth transition was a focused, one-time event for Raymond James and raised the question of whether the firm can sustain its recruiting momentum once most former Commonwealth advisors have settled. LPL, which now manages more than 32,000 advisors and approximately $2.3 trillion in client assets, has signaled plans to reinvigorate its own recruiting efforts after prioritizing Commonwealth retention.

For more context on how this acquisition shaped the competitive landscape, the AdvizorPro post The LPL-Commonwealth Fallout, the Consolidation Shift, and the Wealthtech Transformation tracks the broader advisor movement story from when it first broke.

Some Firms Keep Their Advisors for Decades

While advisor mobility is high across much of the industry, AdvizorPro's tenure research, covered by InvestmentNews, shows that certain firms have built environments where advisors stay for decades. "There are several firms that should be commended for having advisors remain at their firm for several years or even decades on average," an AdvizorPro spokesperson told InvestmentNews.

Among firms with 100 or more employees, Federated Investment Management Company tops the list with an average advisor tenure of 28 years and three months, followed by the Riverside Company at 25 years and two months, Davis Selected Advisers at 23 years and four months, and Siguler Guff Advisers at 23 years. In the 50-to-100 employee cohort, Parallax Volatility Advisers leads at 26 years and one month. In the 10-to-25 employee range, Fulham and Co. in Wellesley, Massachusetts records an average tenure of 35 years. For firms with five to ten employees, Gifford Fong Associates in Lafayette, California tops the list at 38 years and three months.

For comparison, Kehrer Group data shows industry-wide averages vary considerably: advisors at financial institutions average 5 years and 7 months, while wirehouse advisors average 12 years and 7 months and independent broker-dealer advisors average 11 years and 8 months.

The Recruiter Question: Go It Alone or Get Help

Financial Planning quoted AdvizorPro Chief Product Officer Hesom Parhizkar on the practical tradeoffs of working with an industry recruiter versus navigating a job search independently. Among Parhizkar's key points: some positions are only accessible through a recruiter, as certain firms have first-look arrangements that give third-party recruiters gatekeeper access to open roles. He also noted that advisors tend to move more than once in the course of a career, making a recruiter relationship worth building early rather than only when actively searching.

Parhizkar also noted that recruiter specialization matters: some recruiters focus exclusively on wirehouse placements, others on small independent RIAs, and others on team transitions. Matching the recruiter to the advisor's goals is as important as any other step in the process.

Wirehouse Model Pressures Continue to Drive Advisor Departures

Two additional articles in Financial Planning and InvestmentNews provided context on the structural pressures at larger firms that contribute to advisor movement. The Financial Planning piece examined the longstanding revenue-sharing relationship between Edward Jones and American Capital Group, and how advisors must weigh the constraints of the wirehouse model against the risks of leaving. InvestmentNews reported that Edward Jones confirmed outsourcing home office support functions to India as its domestic staff headcount declined, a development that adds to the list of factors advisors at large firms are evaluating.

These dynamics connect directly to what AdvizorPro tracks across the fastest-growing RIA firms: firms adding assets and headcount are often doing so by capturing advisors who have concluded that independence offers a better long-term trajectory.

About AdvizorPro

AdvizorPro is the advisor intelligence platform built for asset managers, ETF issuers, wealthtechs, and distribution teams that need to identify, prioritize, and engage financial advisors. With verified data across 750,000+ RIAs, family offices, and broker-dealers - combined with AI-powered lead scoring, TrafficIQ visitor intelligence, native CRM integrations, and now direct connectivity to Claude and ChatGPT - AdvizorPro powers the go-to-market strategies of leading firms across the wealth management ecosystem.

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