July's Advisor Movement Roundup: LPL, Baird and Merrill

AdvizorPro's monthly advisor movement data was featured in several Investment News stories this July covering recruiting activity at LPL Financial, Baird and Merrill Lynch, plus a broader industry recap that drew on AdvizorPro's M&A tracking.

LPL's Strongest Recruiting Stretch of the Year

Investment News reported that LPL Financial added a $2.4 billion San Diego team, citing the latest monthly snapshot of advisor movement from AdvizorPro to note that the win landed amid what appears to be LPL's strongest recruiting stretch of the year. That pace tracks with what AdvizorPro found in its own U.S. Wealth Advisor Movement Report, which charts advisor switching activity from 2021 through 2025. This comes as LPL's CEO has separately said the firm intends to expand its recruiting reach into more conversations with wirehouse and regional broker-dealer representatives.

Curious how your firm's recruiting pace compares? AdvizorPro's advisor movement snapshots break down monthly wins and losses by firm, so you can benchmark against competitors like LPL, Baird and Merrill.

Baird Recruits a $600 Million Veteran Pair

A second Investment News piece, Advisor moves: Baird recruits $600M veteran pair to director roles in North Carolina, cited AdvizorPro's monthly advisor moves snapshot to place the Baird hire in the context of Wells Fargo's broader recruiting activity that month.

Merrill's Two Way Churn

Merrill lands four advisor teams as May recruiting data shows firm's two-way churn used data compiled by AdvizorPro to show that Merrill's hiring flurry sits against a broader industry backdrop of accelerating advisor movement, even as the firm also saw departures during the same period, a pattern AdvizorPro broke down firm by firm in its Advisor Moves - May 2026 report.

A Broader Deals and Recruiting Snapshot

Wealth Solutions Report's July roundup covered a wide range of industry activity, from Arax's acquisition of Transcend Capital to recruiting moves at Moors & Cabot, Ameriprise, RBC and Cresset. The piece cited AdvizorPro's 2026 RIA Aggregator Map, which examined 315 acquisitions recorded over the 12 months ended July 15, finding that California led all states with 44 acquisitions totaling $67 billion in acquired assets, a trend that echoes what AdvizorPro has been tracking in the PE-Backed RIAs to Watch in 2026 roundup.

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.