READ NOWH1 2026, State of Advisor Movement

Winthrop & Co. Research

Research on the movement of financial advisors

Built from public regulatory records and publicly reported moves. Every method, source and correction is published.

Key findings

  • At least 38 teams and advisors with $1 billion or more in reported assets were first reported changing firms between July 23 and October 22, 2026.
  • Moves of $1 billion or more first reported between July 23 and October 22, 2026, carry at least $78B in reported assets.
  • 14,857 SEC-registered RIAs list a main office address in a US state or DC, per the SEC file dated October 2, 2026.

Source: Winthrop & Co. analysis of internal data, public regulatory records, and publicly reported moves.

Winthrop & Co. Research
The State of Financial Advisor MovementH1 2026
January 1 to June 30, 2026

Latest release

The State of Financial Advisor Movement, H1 2026

Published Jul 23, 2026 · Updated Oct 8, 2026
Twice a year

The report covers the first half of 2026 in three parts.

  1. 1How many producing advisors moved
  2. 2How the four wirehouses fared on two lenses
  3. 3Where wirehouse leavers went
Read the reportHow it was measured

Next release: full-year 2026 report, January 22, 2027

Datasets

Updated as the data is measured
Rolling three months

Where billion-dollar teams are landing

Publicly reported moves by teams and advisors with $1 billion or more in reported assets, grouped by the kind of firm they joined.

Updated Oct 30, 2026
Open the dataset
Exhibit 1

Other employee firms drew the most moves of $1 billion or more

Moves first reported Jul 23 to Oct 22, 2026, by where teams went
Other employee firms14
Independent RIA6
Independent broker-dealer, counting Wells Fargo FiNet6
Wirehouse6
Rockefeller3
Bank2
RIA partnership1

Source: Winthrop & Co. analysis of internal data, public regulatory records, and publicly reported moves.

Updated as moves are reported

Firm departure trackers

Departures from Edward Jones, Merrill Lynch, Northwestern Mutual and UBS, with destinations, reported assets and a source for every move.

Most recently updated Oct 28, 2026
Edward JonesMerrill LynchNorthwestern MutualUBSAll four trackers
Exhibit 2

The second quarter carried the most publicly reported UBS moves so far in 2026

Publicly reported moves by quarter; Q4 through Oct 28, 2026
15
19
13
7
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4so far

Source: Winthrop & Co. analysis of internal data, public regulatory records, and publicly reported moves.

Monthly, from the SEC file

Top RIAs by state

SEC-registered RIAs in every state, from Form ADV: firm counts, regulatory assets under management and the largest firms, with the SEC record linked on every row.

SEC file dated Oct 2, 2026
Open the datasetMethodology
Exhibit 3

New York has the most SEC-registered RIAs

Firms that list a main office address in each state, SEC file dated Oct 2, 2026
AKMEWIVTNHWAIDMTNDMNILMINYMAORNVWYSDIAINOHPANJCTRICAUTCONEMOKYWVVAMDDEAZNMKSARTNNCSCDCOKLAMSALGAHITXFL
Firms per stateUnder 5050 to 149150 to 299300 to 9991,000 or more

Source: Winthrop & Co. analysis of internal data, public regulatory records, and publicly reported moves.

In the news

How to cite

Cite a dataset by its title, the date it was last updated and its address.

Winthrop & Co. Research, “Dataset,” updated Mon D, YYYY, winthropco.com/path.

For example: Winthrop & Co. Research, "Where billion-dollar teams are landing," updated Oct 30, 2026, winthropco.com/advisor-moves/billion-dollar-teams.

Method and standards

How every dataset is built

The three tests that decide a firm’s category, the definitions behind every count, what the data does not show, and the version history.

Read the methodology

Corrections and changes

A dated record of each correction to a figure or a category. If a figure is wrong, we will correct it. Email us at info@winthropco.com.

See corrections and changes