Executive Summary
Advisor recruiting remains highly active in September, with several multibillion-dollar teams changing firms and some of the industry’s largest practices choosing independent or alternative wealth-management platforms.
The year-to-date recruiting scoreboard continues to show Raymond James with a substantial lead, while Rockefeller Capital Management, Wells Fargo, Steward Partners, and Janney Montgomery Scott round out the five largest recruiting winners. At the same time, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Merrill Lynch account for the largest reported recruiting losses.
September’s individual moves are equally significant. A $4.3 billion Ameriprise team launched an independent RIA with Dynasty Financial Partners, NewEdge recruited a $3.1 billion Bank of America Private Bank team and a $1.25 billion UBS team, and UBS itself recruited three teams managing approximately $2.7 billion combined.
Taken together, the activity reinforces a theme we’ve followed throughout 2026: the recruiting market is becoming less about simply changing employers and increasingly about choosing the structure in which an advisor wants to build the next stage of a business.
Recruiting Wire Scoreboard
The latest AdvisorHub Recruiting Wire provides a useful snapshot of where reported advisor assets are moving in 2026.
Recruiting Winners — Year-to-Date
| Rank | Firm | Recruited Assets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raymond James | $24.1 Billion |
| 2 | Rockefeller Capital Management | $7.9 Billion |
| 3 | Wells Fargo | $7.8 Billion |
| 4 | Steward Partners | $6.1 Billion |
| 5 | Janney Montgomery Scott | $6.1 Billion |
Raymond James remains well ahead of the field, with more than $24 billion in reported recruited assets. Rockefeller and Wells Fargo continue to occupy the next two positions, while Steward Partners and Janney remain significant year-to-date recruiting destinations.
Largest Recruiting Losses
| Rank | Firm | Assets Lost |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morgan Stanley | $11.7 Billion |
| 2 | UBS | $10.3 Billion |
| 3 | Merrill Lynch | $8.5 Billion |
| 4 | Comerica Securities | $5.5 Billion |
| 5 | Commonwealth Financial Network | $5.2 Billion |
The loss side tells an equally interesting story. Three of the industry’s largest traditional wealth-management organizations—Morgan Stanley, UBS, and Merrill Lynch—currently occupy the top three positions in reported assets lost.
That doesn’t mean those firms aren’t recruiting successfully themselves. UBS, for example, made several substantial additions in September. Rather, it illustrates just how competitive the market for large, experienced teams has become.
Recruiting Leaders — Net Assets
| Rank | Firm | Net Recruited Assets |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raymond James | $19.7 Billion |
| 2 | Rockefeller Capital Management | $7.9 Billion |
| 3 | Steward Partners | $6.1 Billion |
| 4 | Janney Montgomery Scott | $6.1 Billion |
| 5 | Wells Fargo | $5.2 Billion |
The net numbers reinforce Raymond James’ position. After accounting for reported departures as well as additions, the firm remains the industry’s largest recruiting winner by a significant margin.
Scoreboard data reflects AdvisorHub’s Recruiting Wire as of September 21, 2026.
Notable Advisor Moves
$4.3 Billion Ameriprise Team Launches Independent RIA
One of September’s largest moves came when an Ameriprise team overseeing approximately $4.3 billion launched an independent registered investment advisor with Dynasty Financial Partners.
The Bedford, New Hampshire-based practice includes roughly 40 advisors.
Why it matters
A move involving a practice of this size demonstrates how dramatically the infrastructure supporting independent wealth management has evolved.
Independence was once considerably more difficult for very large practices because advisors had to replicate technology, investments, compliance, operations, and other capabilities available inside large institutions.
Today’s supported-independence ecosystem allows sophisticated teams to combine ownership with institutional infrastructure.
That changes the economics of independence—and expands the number of advisors for whom it is a realistic alternative.
NewEdge Recruits $3.1 Billion Bank of America Private Bank Team
NewEdge Wealth recruited a four-person Bank of America Private Bank team in Fort Lauderdale overseeing approximately $3.1 billion in client assets.
The team reportedly generated approximately $20 million in annual revenue and established NewEdge’s fourth Florida location.
The move followed another major NewEdge expansion: a $2.2 billion Bernstein Private Wealth Management team that established the firm’s first Texas location.
Why it matters
NewEdge’s growth illustrates how quickly newer wealth-management platforms can establish credibility with sophisticated advisors and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
The competitive landscape is no longer defined exclusively by the largest legacy brokerage firms.
Advisors serving complex clients increasingly have alternatives that combine boutique positioning with substantial technology, investment, and operational capabilities.
UBS Recruits Three Teams Managing Approximately $2.7 Billion
UBS opened September with three substantial recruiting wins involving teams managing approximately $2.65 billion combined from Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.
The largest was a Morgan Stanley team in Colorado overseeing approximately $1.4 billion.
Why it matters
UBS presents an interesting example of how recruiting data should be interpreted.
The firm ranks among the largest sources of departing assets on the year-to-date scoreboard, yet it continues recruiting substantial teams of its own.
Advisor movement isn’t simply a story of “winning firms” and “losing firms.” Large wealth organizations can simultaneously lose experienced teams in some markets while successfully recruiting competitors’ advisors elsewhere.
The intensity of movement itself may be the more important signal.
NewEdge Adds $1.25 Billion UBS Team in Minnesota
NewEdge Wealth continued its September expansion by recruiting an eight-person UBS team overseeing approximately $1.25 billion in client assets.
The move established NewEdge’s first Minnesota office and its 22nd location nationally.
The team’s leadership cited technology, support, and investment capabilities as important considerations for the next stage of its growth.
Why it matters
The stated reasons behind the transition are as interesting as the asset total.
Technology and operational support increasingly appear alongside compensation and economics when advisors explain why they move.
For established teams, the question isn’t simply whether another platform can match their existing capabilities.
It’s whether the platform can help them grow beyond what they’re currently able to do.
Merrill Recruits Two $1.2 Billion Teams
Merrill Lynch recorded two significant September recruiting wins.
A team managing approximately $1.2 billion joined from Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management in Virginia, followed days later by another approximately $1.2 billion UBS team in New Mexico.
Why it matters
The moves are another reminder that traditional wirehouses remain formidable recruiting competitors.
Much of the industry’s attention understandably focuses on independence, but the movement isn’t one-directional.
For some advisors, the scale, brand, lending capabilities, investment resources, and broader financial infrastructure of a major institution remain compelling.
The modern recruiting market isn’t replacing one model with another.
It’s creating more competition among models.
Five Trends We’re Watching
1. Raymond James Continues to Separate From the Field
Raymond James remains the most striking story on the year-to-date recruiting scoreboard.
With approximately $24.1 billion in recruited assets and $19.7 billion in net recruited assets, the firm maintains a substantial lead over every other organization tracked by AdvisorHub.
Its position is particularly notable because Raymond James can compete through different affiliation structures rather than relying on a single advisor model.
That flexibility appears increasingly relevant in a market where advisors want greater choice over how their businesses operate.
2. Independence Is Moving Further Upmarket
The $4.3 billion Ameriprise team’s decision to launch an RIA is significant because of its scale.
Large advisor teams once faced a difficult tradeoff between institutional infrastructure and business ownership.
That tradeoff is becoming less pronounced.
Custodians, technology providers, outsourced investment platforms, compliance resources, supported-independence firms, and RIA service organizations have created an ecosystem capable of supporting increasingly sophisticated businesses.
As that infrastructure improves, the potential market for independence expands.
3. New Platforms Are Becoming Serious Competitors
NewEdge’s September activity deserves attention.
The firm added a $3.1 billion Bank of America Private Bank team in Florida and a $1.25 billion UBS team in Minnesota, following a $2.2 billion Bernstein team in Texas shortly beforehand.
These aren’t small practices experimenting with a new platform.
They’re sophisticated teams serving affluent and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
That suggests the competitive barriers protecting established wealth-management firms continue to weaken.
4. The Commonwealth Transition Continues Reshaping the Independent Market
Commonwealth Financial Network remains among the largest sources of reported departing assets, with approximately $5.2 billion appearing on AdvisorHub’s year-to-date loss scoreboard.
The broader movement is substantial. InvestmentNews reported in September that more than 650 advisors had departed Commonwealth following the announcement of its combination with LPL Financial.
This shouldn’t automatically be interpreted as a judgment on the acquiring firm.
Major ownership changes naturally cause advisors to reassess their businesses.
But competitors clearly understand that these transition periods create unusual recruiting opportunities.
5. Advisors Are Evaluating Platforms as Business Infrastructure
The language surrounding major moves continues changing.
Advisors increasingly talk about:
- Technology
- Operational support
- Investment capabilities
- Autonomy
- Brand flexibility
- Ownership
- Succession
- Growth resources
- Client experience
- Enterprise value
Those are business-owner considerations.
For a mature advisor practice, choosing a platform can affect far more than next year’s compensation. It can influence hiring, organic growth, succession, operating margins, client capabilities, and ultimately what the business itself may be worth.
BKLM Perspective
The September recruiting numbers reveal something more important than which firm gained or lost the most assets.
The advisor platform itself is becoming a strategic business decision.
For years, advisor recruiting was often framed primarily around transition packages and payout.
Those economics still matter.
But the industry’s infrastructure has changed dramatically.
An advisor managing a substantial practice can now evaluate traditional wirehouses, regional firms, independent broker-dealers, supported-independence platforms, national RIAs, private wealth boutiques, and launching an independent RIA.
Each structure offers a different combination of economics, control, resources, risk, and enterprise value.
That creates a much more sophisticated decision.
For an advisor with ten years remaining in the business, a slightly higher annual payout may matter considerably less than ownership structure, succession economics, growth potential, operating efficiency, and the eventual value of the practice.
That’s why some of the largest moves of 2026 shouldn’t really be viewed as recruiting transactions.
They’re business-model decisions.
The firms that understand that distinction may have an advantage in the next phase of advisor recruiting.
And advisors who understand it may make very different decisions about where—and how—they build the next decade of their careers.
Sources
- AdvisorHub — Recruiting Wire Scoreboard and Advisor Moves
- InvestmentNews — Advisor recruiting and independent broker-dealer coverage
- Barron’s Advisor — Advisor recruiting and breakaway coverage
- WealthManagement.com — Recruiting, RIA and career-move coverage
- Firm announcements and publicly reported industry information
BKLM analysis based on publicly reported advisor movements and recruiting information available through September 21, 2026.