The State of Financial Advisor Movement, H1 2026: Key Findings

The short answer: Winthrop & Co.'s flagship research report, The State of Financial Advisor Movement, H1 2026, is live. It measures six months of advisor movement: 15,540 unique producing advisors on the move per FINTRX registered-rep data prepared for the report, the two most active RIA M&A quarters ever recorded, wirehouse recruiting packages that in our own 2026 deals run closer to 400% of trailing-12 all-in, depending on the advisor and the book, and a destination map showing roughly three in ten wirehouse movers who re-registered choosing independence. This post carries the headline findings; the full interactive edition is here. The findings themselves, with the numbers stated plainly and the sources named for anyone who wants to cite or check them, now live ungated at Advisor Movement in H1 2026: The Findings, which is the better starting point if you are here to verify a figure.

We built this report because the first half of 2026 repriced the advisor market, and because most of what the industry believes about movement is extrapolated from annual surveys. This edition is measured. Here is what the measurement found.

How much movement actually happened?

The report's foundation is FINTRX registered-rep movement data prepared for the report: 15,540 unique producing advisors, reps actively managing a personal book, moved in the half. That producing-advisor lens is the report's central discipline, because headline headcount and commercial reality diverge sharply.

The clearest example: the four wirehouses combined grew total registered headcount by 1,419 in the half while losing a net 356 producing advisors, with three of the four net negative on the producing lens. The growth is trainees, bank-channel registrations, and support staff. The attrition is the people who carry the books.

Which firms won and lost the half?

The report's Movement Ledger maps producing-advisor joins, departures, and net for twelve firms. The headline rows:

• LPL Financial led all firms in producing-advisor inflows at 1,100, net plus 482, with scale context the report spells out.
• Raymond James Financial Services ran the cleanest net ratio among major destinations: plus 249 on 340 in and 91 out.
• Merrill Lynch ran net minus 255 producing advisors; UBS minus 129.
• Boutique and supported platforms confirmed the direction at their scale: Steward plus 28, Rockefeller plus 22, Sanctuary plus 17.

How many advisors left the wirehouses in 2026 sets out all four wirehouses on both lenses, with where their leavers went.

Where did the departures actually go?

New in this edition: a destination-channel analysis measuring every producing advisor who departed one of the five biggest advisor employers and re-registered during the half, classified by channel.

The finding cuts both ways. The employee model still holds roughly six of ten wirehouse movers who re-registered, landing at another wire, a regional, or a bank. But roughly three in ten chose independence in some form, 16% cross-firm to an independent broker-dealer and 13.9% to an independent RIA, and the oft-quoted direct-to-RIA breakaway statistic alone understates that shift. Among Edward Jones leavers who re-registered, the independent share is a majority: 54% chose an independent broker-dealer, led by LPL, RJFS, and Ameriprise.

As the report puts it, the destination mix names the employee channel's real competitor: the rival bidding with a bigger note.

What is the market paying to move advisors?

The recruiting escalation continued in the half. In the deals we work on in 2026, wirehouse recruiting packages run closer to 400% of trailing-12 revenue all-in, upfront plus deferred and back-end components, and every package depends on the advisor and the book.

The aggregate balance sheet backs the story: outstanding recruiting loans at six publicly reporting firms exceed $14 billion in aggregate, per their own filings. We covered the deal-structure mechanics separately in what a transition deal is worth in 2026.

What about M&A and valuations?

The half posted the two most active RIA M&A quarters ever recorded, corroborated by DeVoe's deal series, running ahead of 2025's record full year. Valuations held at records as buyers began calling a ceiling: the median RIA transaction priced at 11.6 times adjusted EBITDA per Advisor Growth Strategies data. The report's multiple ladder maps what that means band by band, and its rent-or-own framework prices the sunset programs, UBS's ALFA, Merrill's CTP, Edward Jones' RTP, against the open market; our standalone guides on ALFA, CTP, and RTP carry the same analysis in open form.

The question underneath all of it

Every number in the report feeds one referendum: whether an advisor is renting their enterprise or building one they own. The escalation curve prices the rent. The multiple ladder prices the ownership. The destination map shows, firm by firm and band by band, which answer the market's movers are choosing.

Read the full interactive edition: reading paths by production tier, a question router for the decisions advisors are actually weighing, and all twenty exhibits, with the complete 41-page print edition delivered on registration. If you would rather have the findings without the registration, they are set out in full at Advisor Movement in H1 2026: The Findings, sources and all.

Every number here depends on the advisor and the book. The specific answer comes from a confidential conversation: the best deal we can win for your practice through our relationships and our record of past deals, and how culture, technology, support and service compare at the firms that fit. Request an introduction.