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Practice Management > Building Your Business > Recruiting

Commonwealth Continues Strong Recruiting, Looks for More in 2024

By John Manganaro

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Commonwealth Financial Network this week announced the results of its 2023 recruiting effort, revealing that it onboarded some 292 advisors to both new and existing practices across the country during the year.

These advisors were accompanied by a total of $15.9 billion in client assets, an increase of nearly 42% compared to 2022’s previous record recruiting year. In a new interview with ThinkAdvisor, Becca Hajjar, managing principal and chief business development officer at Commonwealth, said the fight was already on to achieve yet another record in 2024.

“Of course we want to three-peat,” she joked. “I believe we can get there.”

Fee-Based Business Leads Way

As Hajjar emphasized, the average assets of advisors who joined affiliated firms increased nearly 34% in 2023, representing strong growth across Commonwealth’s community of independent businesses and an increased interest in supporting advisors who choose to join existing firms. Specifically, Hajjar pointed out, advisors who joined existing practices were responsible for close to $820 million of the overall recruited assets.

The firm saw continued momentum from advisors seeking to join from registered investment advisors, independent broker-dealers, regionals and wirehouses. At the end of 2023, Commonwealth supported nearly 2,200 affiliated advisors nationwide, overseeing more than $296 billion in client assets.

“Once again, most assets recruited last year were fee-based, a direct result of the transformation unfolding across the industry,” Hajjar said. “Another interesting and related fact is that, of the advisors who joined us in 2023, there was an 18% increase in the prevalence of CFPs.”

In a statement about the results, Commonwealth CEO Wayne Bloom said he sees the firm’s future as being “particularly bright.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of the recruiting results we’ve achieved over the past two years paired with the new initiatives and product enhancements that deliver immense value to our advisors,” he said. “Commonwealth is well-positioned to attract client-centric advisors who rely on innovative solutions that broaden capacity and expertise while building efficiencies and scale into their operations.”

Echoing that sentiment, Hajjar argued that Commonwealth is evolving faster than ever — and “intently focused on intelligent growth” while staying true to its legacy and standards of affiliation. According to Hajjar, much of the success comes from incoming advisors gaining direct access to Commonwealth’s senior leadership team and subject matter experts, coupled with its product offerings and advisor-centric culture.

The Road Ahead

Hajjar said she fully expects to see the advisor industry consolidation continue — noting, for example, that just this week LPL Financial revealed plans to acquire Atria Wealth Solutions. She agreed that the trend presents both opportunities and challenges in the recruiting effort.

“When you see consolidation happening like this, it gives advisors a chance to pause and ask themselves the big questions,” she explained. “They have a moment to decide if the new destination is going to be the best place for their practice.”

As Hajjar noted, rare are the advisors who randomly decide to go through the business transition process. They make such a decision because they are facing obstacles in serving clients and running their business — and aren’t getting a satisfactory response from leadership.

“Advisors come to us saying that they want to be with a firm that helps them best serve their clients,” Hajjar said. “Most of the specific pain points we hear about have to do with advisors looking for better service and support, and better technology. They want to make sure that, when they call in to the home office with a question, they are going to get an answer. It’s not rocket science. It’s about excellence.”

Pictured: Becca Hajjar 

John Manganaro

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