Market Intelligence

Advisor Channel Flow

Which business models are gaining advisor registrations. Movement between models - wirehouse, regional, independent broker-dealer, hybrid RIA, RIA, bank, insurance, and platform. The question underneath every other report: not just which firms are gaining registrations, but which models are.

These reports are based on public U.S. SEC IAPD IAR registration changes. Advisors registered only as brokers are not included. Because IAR registration changes can include non-producing, supervisory, home-office, or administrative registrants, figures should be read as directional movement records, not audited counts of producing advisor transitions.

Reference guideHow the 11 business-model channels are defined View definitions

Wirehouse - the largest national employee brokerages. National Broker-Dealer - large national broker-dealers that are not wirehouses. Regional Broker-Dealer - employee broker-dealers with a regional footprint. Independent Broker-Dealer - independent-contractor BD affiliations. Hybrid RIA - advisors operating both an RIA and a BD affiliation. RIA - fee-based registered investment advisors with no BD affiliation. Aggregator / Enterprise RIA - enterprise and roll-up RIA platforms advisors join. Platform / Custodian - custodians and turnkey platform providers. Bank / Trust - bank- or trust-affiliated. Insurance-Affiliated - insurance-company-affiliated. Other / Unclassified - firms not yet assigned a channel.

Channel classifications are judgment-based. Many firms operate across more than one model, and SEC registration data does not always capture the advisor's full business model. These classifications are intended to show broad directional movement, not precise firm taxonomy. For this report, independent channels include independent broker-dealer, hybrid RIA, and RIA; independent-to-independent movement is not counted as net movement into independence.

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Source & Method

Net reported flow by model: For each channel, the IAR registration changes that moved into it minus those that moved out, counting registration-change records - not assets or revenue. A positive figure means the channel gained more IAR registrations than it lost this window.
Channel classification: Each firm is mapped to one business model using its registration profile and public information. These categories are judgment-based: many firms operate across more than one model, and registration data does not always capture a firm's full business model, so treat them as broad directional groupings, not a precise taxonomy.
Independent channels & "net into independence": For this report, independent channels are Independent Broker-Dealer, Hybrid RIA, and RIA. "Net into independence" counts inbound records from non-independent channels minus outbound records to non-independent channels; movement between two independent channels is not counted.
IAR-only scope: Because broker-only registrants are excluded, the Wirehouse, National Broker-Dealer, and Insurance-Affiliated figures capture only the IAR-registered portion of those firms' movement, so employee-channel totals are more affected by the IAR lens than RIA-side channels.
Dual registration: An IAR can hold more than one registration (for example an RIA and a BD affiliation). Each firm is assigned a single channel, so advisors who operate across models are represented by one classification and the chart shows broad direction rather than every affiliation.
Other / Unclassified: Firms not yet assigned a channel. Records on either end that fall into Other / Unclassified are shown for completeness but are not counted in a defined channel's gains or losses.
What counts as a move: Any registered IAR whose firm registration changed during the window. It is a count of registration-change records, not vetted client-facing advisors, so it can include non-producing registrants such as home-office or supervisory staff. Not production-weighted, AUM-weighted, or revenue-weighted.
This window / dataset: The current view is all IAR registration changes reported in the last 12 months. Going forward this becomes a rolling trailing-12-month period, so the figures always reflect the most recent 12 months.
Directional: These figures describe broad patterns of registration movement, not audited counts. Use them to spot trends and questions worth exploring, not as a precise scorecard.

Market Intelligence

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Three useful next views of the same public SEC IAPD registration-change data.

Firm Churn Compare competitive advisor departures with each firm's starting roster - the rate behind the raw counts. Open report → Movement Map See which firms gained and lost registrations in every state, plus the local routes that repeated. Open report → Commonwealth Special Report Follow the advisors who left Commonwealth after the LPL acquisition announcement and see where they landed. Read the report →

View every Market Intelligence report →

The data shows the patterns. The decision is personal.™