In one move this year, a 45-advisor team left a big brokerage, taking with them $6.5 billion in client assets to start a new firm. Fifteen years ago, a $250 million breakaway made headlines. Now, $1 billion-plus moves hardly get a glance, resulting in significant wealth creation in the RIA space.
This isn’t broker churn, with advisors seizing more lucrative perches within a single channel. It’s a structural migration from traditional brokerage firms to independent, advisor-run RIA platforms.
Unlike the brokerage-to-brokerage musical chairs of the past, today’s trend is one-way. RIA advisors almost never “break back” to wirehouses, and the independent RIA space is the only wealth-management channel showing advisor and asset growth, according to Cerulli Associates.
Once advisors taste real independence, they don’t go back.
Compensation drives the move to independence. Independent advisors typically keep 60 to 65% of what they bring in, compared to 40 to 50% at old-line brokerages − a 25 to 50% jump in income, plus business ownership and future liquidity.
Dynasty’s RIA-focused investment-banking division reports that valuation multiples for well-run independent practices are at all-time highs, approaching 20 times EBITDA for growing firms with real scale. Compare that to below-market brokerage retirement packages, and the math gets compelling.
That’s why $1 billion-plus − and even $10 billion-plus − teams are finding their way to independence, recognizing they could boost lifetime earnings and build long-term wealth through ownership.
But it’s not all about money. Today’s independent advisors are missionaries rather than mercenaries. They were already making money where they were. What looms larger for today’s breakaways is accomplishment. They want to build successful enterprises. And over time frames of 10 years or more, missionaries tend to make more than mercenaries.
If better pay and ownership were the only drivers, the trend would be dramatic enough. But client demand pushes it further. At independent RIAs, roughly 75% of new assets come from existing clients and their referrals, compared with 25% from new clients, says Schwab. Clients are not only moving to independent advisors but also entrusting them with more assets.
Additionally, the independent movement has made the family-office model broadly accessible. For decades, only the ultra-wealthy could separate investment advice from custody and product distribution, allowing them to shop globally for services. Independent platforms can now deliver that structure for smaller account sizes, and with all the transparency, alignment, and personalization family-office clients have come to expect.
At Dynasty, pooled client assets total roughly $120 billion, giving affiliated advisors the ability to custody assets with multiple firms and source solutions across the market, including insurance and alternative investments. Clients who understand the model often recommend it to friends, extending reach through word of mouth.
The independent space has evolved from small lifestyle practices into large-scale enterprises with professional management, branch leadership, and experienced executives. Breakaway teams can number 20 to 30 advisors with clear leadership structures. Supporting infrastructure includes investment-banking services for acquisitions, succession-planning programs, and technology platforms designed for scale.
Technology is another accelerant. Legacy brokerage firms face structural limits on upgrades given the complexity of serving tens of thousands of advisors and millions of accounts. Independent platforms, built more recently, can adopt new systems more quickly. According to Schwab’s RIA Benchmarking Study, firms on these platforms operate with fewer staff while generating higher margins.
Transition technology has improved: digital onboarding and advanced data systems can move books of business worth billions across thousands of accounts in weeks.
These developments encourage advisors seeking independence without starting a firm to join existing RIAs. This “tuck-in” model lets advisors capture independence benefits with scalable infrastructure.
Powerful trends are pushing the independent RIA space forward. Forecasts point to possible reductions in capital gains taxes, giving owners better after-tax outcomes if they sell. The regulatory climate has tilted toward advisor choice. And private equity now competes with strategic acquirers, asset managers, insurance companies, sovereign funds, and family offices. More bidders mean stronger valuations.
This momentum has turned independence from individual career moves into a structural shift. Advisors are choosing setups where clients − not corporate managers − decide their tenure. “Breakbacks” to wirehouses are rare, and many who’ve made the move say they wish they’d done it sooner. Major banks, asset managers, and custodians are building independent platforms because they see the same future.
What began as a niche channel 15 years ago now attracts billion-dollar teams. Infrastructure has matured to institutional standards, and transitions can handle firms of any size. Products once out of reach − structured notes, balance-sheet lending, alternative investments − are standard.
For advisors weighing a move, access is no longer the question. The decision is whether to build a firm or join one. Either way, independence is now a fixture in American wealth management, and it isn’t going away.
Shirl Penney is the president and CEO of Dynasty Financial Partners.
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