[pullquote]Hiring younger and newer advisors will allow the company to shape and mold them to fit their culture.[/pullquote]
It may seem that many advisors are jumping ship from the wirehouses and heading toward independent firms. However, wirehouses are still enticing financial advisors with their technology and vast array of investment options. After listing the pros and cons of breaking away to the independent channel, wirehouses seem to have more pros than the freedom independent channels bring.
According to a UBS spokesman,
“UBS, by far the smallest of the four wirehouses, has recruited 75 advisors from the other three firms so far this year.”
Wirehouses offer more benefits to advisors that independent firms cannot afford. Also, it is a hassle to be your own boss in an independent channel because you have to deal with administrative tasks, human resources, and compliance.
Wirehouses have come up with creative strategies to retain the brokers they currently have as well. These strategies include offering mortgages and 5-6 year loans. The biggest deals advisors will still receive are through recruitment packages. Wirehouses are aggressively recruiting with generous deals that include up to 330% of an advisor’s trailing-12 production.
What are these wirehouse recruiters looking for? It could be youth. According to Larry Petrone, director of research at Boston-based Financial Research Corp, states,
“Hiring younger and newer advisors will allow the company to shape and mold them to fit their culture. There is certainly a massive number of advisors retiring in 10 to 15 years, and the wirehouses moving to hire younger advisors may be an effort to attract them to a team.”
However, veteran financial advisors are still wanted and needed. Many wirehouses want someone who is experienced and has formed a bond with their clients. If you are looking for a brand name, technology and all the advisory tools needed to run a successful business, wirehouses are for you.