For too long, wealth management has regarded bank-based advisors as less entrepreneurial than their counterparts in the independent space. That common misperception stems from a bank or wirehouse environment that places limitations on their growth or restricts access to resources.
Banks supply leads, thought leadership, product sets and structure. Outsiders, naturally, assume that advisors merely manage what comes in.
While, on the surface, this may appear to be the case, increasing numbers of bank advisors are defying the typecasting to become top performers. What distinguishes them is an entrepreneurial drive that even a bank's policies cannot snuff out. Cerulli Associates data supports the claim that a movement is emerging. By 2027, research indicates that wirehouse assets will drop to 27.7%, a decline of almost 6 percentage points from 2022.
For bank advisors weighing the move to independence, here are four key insights drawn from real-world experiences for those who have successfully transitioned.
Not Every Bank Advisor Can or Should Go Independent
Independence is not for the average bank advisor. It demands ambition, resilience and a willingness to rebuild on day one. The best independent firms attract a top-tier subset of advisors — those who would succeed in any environment because of their fire, drive and discipline.
Identifying advisors with that mindset works only when firms lay out the full reality of independence to a prospective advisor. Advisors self-select: The wrong ones retreat; the right ones lean in. Only those who recognize the challenge and persist are equipped to thrive.
Join Forces With Local Leadership
Entrepreneurship in wealth management is no longer about flying solo. A high-wire transition should come with a safety net of a structured or supported independence. Advisors succeed when local leadership genuinely advocates for them, within a large independent broker-dealer structure.
This support fosters entrepreneurship. Local leadership can alleviate advisor worry about getting lost inside a large national firm by delivering hands-on, personalized support, representing the advisor's interests, and offering a community of peers who operate in the same supported-independence structure.
Such models serve as a bridge — more professional freedoms but without the operational burden of running a business. Advisors retain full autonomy while working within a ready-made infrastructure comparable to a bank, but with a broader product shelf that significantly expands investment capabilities, industry-wide thought leadership, common-sense compliance and freedom to communicate authentically with clients.
Entrepreneurship in this new era doesn't mean building a storefront. It means being free to support clients without the institutional limitations that never feel quite right.
Seek Flexibility and Freedom
Former bank advisors often experience a seismic shift in flexibility, as a wider range of traditional investments, alternative investments and access to brokerage and advisory solutions becomes available. Advisors can collaborate seamlessly with CPAs, estate attorneys, insurance professionals, financial planners and other experts to provide clients with a deeper, more holistic approach to financial planning.
The outcome is more than broader tools or platforms — it is stronger, more fulfilled client relationships and a renewed sense of purpose for advisors. With greater flexibility and ownership over advice, advisors often rediscover the most energized, client-focused version of their professional identity. Greater customization and choice follow, allowing advisors to tailor solutions without the constraints typical of wirehouses or employee-advisor models. This flexibility also supports advisor career growth and encourages deeper client engagement, often increasing the share of assets that clients entrust to their advisor.
Responsive Support Structure Matters
When advisors receive strong local leadership support, they can dedicate more time to clients and help them consolidate their assets with them for the first time. The advisor now has full capability.
The entrepreneurial bank-based advisor is frequently misunderstood. Supported independence, however, shows that they never needed the bank for success — it merely limited how fully that success could scale. With the right infrastructure, their potential expands exponentially.
Kosta Tanglis is the founder and managing partner of Genesis Wealth, which offers personalized financial planning, wealth management, investment services and retirement solutions for individuals and businesses.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.