A new report, Wealth Management Goes Independent: Spotting the Breakaway Brokers, released by Aite Group in late October found that more than one in four brokers are considering going independent. More than two-thirds cite the freedom to make business and advice decisions as primary motivation. For almost 40%, being independent will help them better grow their book of business. Roughly the same percentage of employee brokers see the primary benefit as owning your own advice practice, which can eventually be sold to the next generation of advisors.
According to the report, the typical broker that is looking to break away is at a firm with more than 10,000 employees (35%); has tenure of six to 10 years (33%); has client assets of between $10 million and $99 million (41%); has 100 or more clients (35%); and whose business has improved since last year (43%).
