The economic stress from the coronavirus is making its impact felt on M&A transactions and company earnings. Recruiting is another matter, though.
With more than 500 advisors and $30 billion in client assets in motion under the year’s announced recruiting moves in the independent channel this year, a brief pause in activity in March has given way to hundreds of BD affiliation changes. The below roundup of 32 recruiting moves, M&A deals and other news in the indie channel displays the competitive fight.
M&A experts predict transactions will also pick up in coming months after reporting a slowdown of breakaway deals and other RIA acquisitions in the second quarter. As for earnings, lower interest revenue among publicly traded wealth managers has pressured them lower, sharply in some cases. Their outlook isn’t likely to improve until the coronavirus is under control.
LPL Financial and Raymond James — the two largest recruiters in the indie space, according to Financial Planning’s tracking of company announcements — report second-quarter earnings this week. LPL has unveiled teams with some 220 advisors and $12 billion in client assets this year. Raymond James has announced at least $4 billion in recruited client assets to its IBD.
In third place, Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network has attracted practices with at least $2.6 billion. Still, competitors poached teams from each of the three biggest IBD recruiters in moves discussed below. Another rival from the brokerage side of the full RIA platforms, Purshe Kaplan Sterling Investments, has started working in some capacity with more than 80 advisors in 2020.
To catch up on the latest news and notes in the indie space, scroll down our slideshow. To see where things stood last month, click here.