How Many Advisors Left the Wirehouses in 2026?

The short answer: In the first half of 2026, counting producing advisors, Merrill Lynch saw 570 leave and 315 join, UBS 206 leave and 77 join, Morgan Stanley 245 leave and 242 join, and Wells Fargo Advisors 365 leave, 90 of them into Wells Fargo's own FiNet channel, and 396 join. Counting every registration, Wells Fargo grew its roster by 639, Morgan Stanley by 470, Merrill Lynch by 266 and UBS by 44. Of the producing advisors who left a wirehouse and re-registered elsewhere, roughly three in ten went independent. Winthrop & Co. first published these figures on July 23, 2026, from FINTRX registered-rep data.

The four wirehouses, firm by firm

January 1 to June 30, 2026. Counts of advisors. Source: FINTRX registered-rep movement data prepared for The State of Financial Advisor Movement, H1 2026, first published by Winthrop & Co. on July 23, 2026.

Merrill Lynch had the largest producing-advisor outflow of the four: 570 left and 315 joined, a net of minus 255. Counting every registration, the firm grew by 266 over the same six months, which is why the two lenses need to be read together. Of the 570 producing leavers, 454 had re-registered elsewhere by June 30: 30.6% at a bank broker-dealer, 20.9% at another wirehouse, 15.9% at an RIA, 14.5% at an independent broker-dealer, 14.3% at a regional or employee-model firm and 3.7% at an insurance broker-dealer. Should you leave Merrill Lynch covers what those numbers mean for an advisor there.

UBS saw 206 producing advisors leave and 77 join, a net of minus 129, and counting every registration it grew by 44. Of the 206, 154 re-registered elsewhere by June 30: 34.4% at another wirehouse, 27.3% at an employee-model or regional broker-dealer, 22.7% at an independent broker-dealer, 13.6% at an RIA and 1.9% at a bank broker-dealer. Roughly six in ten stayed in the employee model. The UBS Movement Report carries the detail.

Morgan Stanley was the one wirehouse that held its producing headcount essentially flat while growing its roster: 245 producing advisors left and 242 joined, and counting every registration, 1,093 joined and 623 left.

Wells Fargo Advisors added producing advisors: 396 joined and 365 left, a net of plus 31, and counting every registration it grew by 639. Of the 365, 288 re-registered by June 30, and 90 of those moved into Wells Fargo's own FiNet independent channel, a channel conversion inside the firm. Why $10M wirehouse teams land at Wells Fargo looks at the largest teams' moves.

Where wirehouse advisors went

Of the producing advisors who left a wirehouse in the first half of 2026 and re-registered elsewhere, roughly six in ten stayed in the employee model, at another wirehouse, a regional firm or a bank. Roughly three in ten went independent: 16% cross-firm to an independent broker-dealer and 13.9% to an independent RIA. The 90 moves into Wells Fargo's FiNet channel are channel conversions and are not counted as independent moves.

An advisor who leaves for an independent firm is often called a breakaway advisor; what is a breakaway advisor sets out the landing types.

How these figures are counted

• The window. January 1 to June 30, 2026.
• Producing advisors. Registered representatives actively managing a personal book. This is the lens that shows whether a firm is gaining or losing the advisors who carry client relationships.
• All registrations. Every registered representative, including trainees, support staff and other registered employees. A firm can grow on this lens while losing producers, as Merrill Lynch did in the half.
• Destination shares. Measured against the producing advisors who left and re-registered at another firm by June 30. Some leavers retire, leave the industry or have not yet re-registered, so they sit outside the shares.
• Channel conversions. The 90 Wells Fargo Advisors moves into Wells Fargo's FiNet channel are named wherever the 365 appears.
• First published. July 23, 2026, in The State of Financial Advisor Movement, H1 2026, from FINTRX registered-rep movement data prepared for the report and classified by Winthrop & Co.

Second-half and full-year 2026 figures will appear in the next edition of the report. The key findings summarize the rest of the first half, from RIA transactions to recruiting packages.

What a firm's count means for one practice

A firm's net count describes the firm. Whether a move makes sense for a particular practice depends on the book, the clients, the agreements already signed and what the advisor wants the next ten years to look like, and staying is often the right answer. That conversation starts with a confidential call. Request an Introduction.