11 Predictions for Advisor Movement in 2026

Diamond Consultants culled its report from a variety of resources, including Discovery Data, AdvizorPro, FINTRX, news sources and its own proprietary data from transitions that it facilitated.

Here are 11 predictions that the report offered for 2026 and beyond.

1. AI will spark dealmaking, not just disruption.

Artificial intelligence capabilities will become a key factor for advisors in evaluating their current firm and prospective options. A firm's lack of AI strength/investment will lead many advisors to pursue change. Diamond Consultants notes, however, that the financial advice industry is not doomed. It says that AI represents an opportunity for advisors who harness it properly to increase capacity, achieve scale and better serve clients.

Moreover, many advisors will consider a well-timed move to take chips off the table and lock in a monetization at historic market highs, given the perceived risk that AI poses to the profession. Expect to see more M&A deals and more advisors considering minority sales or large forgivable loans in a transition.

2. Wells Fargo could be a recruiting winner.

Diamond Consultants expects the regional firm success story to continue. Raymond James and RBC, for example, "possess the resources and capabilities of the wirehouses, but in a more business-friendly and advisor-centric environment," according to the report. Advisors are taking note, likely extending this trend well into 2026.

In the wirehouse space, the analysis sees Merrill and Wells Fargo posting strong recruiting years. The combination of above-market deals and the reputational issues behind them should paint a rosy picture for these two firms, the report says. They also both stand to gain headcount from UBS.

3. Advisors will seek firms with more services.

Four aspects of wealth management, Diamond Consultants posits, have become "table stakes": safe-asset custody, technology, investment management and financial planning. A firm can pitch one of these to advisors as its distinct value proposition, but it must be very good at it. More often, firms simply acknowledge that these four elements are table stakes and start offering more ancillary services that will become the actual differentiators of a firm or platform.

4. Expect more big-name acquisitions.

Mergers and acquisitions in the RIA space have been trending upward and are likely to continue to do so. Diamond Consultants projects more transactions in 2026 like LPL Financial's acquisition of Commonwealth. "In short, we expect consolidation to continue meaningfully across all corners of the industry," the report said.

Acquisition rumors in recent years have included Osaic, Stifel and UBS. Also expected are many more large-scale independent practices selling to private equity-backed RIAs rather than selling within their broker-dealers.

The independent broker-dealer space is particularly susceptible to consolidation, Diamond Consultants says, adding that it will not be surprising if a large W–2 transaction takes place this year. According to the report, this could be a seemingly mismatched buyer and seller because of the relative lack of quality properties available to interested buyers.

5. Watch for major W-2 team breakaways.

The biggest and highest-quality teams will command a premium in total deal and deal structure. Recruiting deals for midlevel producers, however, are unlikely to move dramatically higher in the independent or W–2 space, given that independent firms already seem extended past the point where they are comfortable. But RIAs' continued run-up in valuations could spill over to more traditional recruiting channels. This has not yet happened on a large scale, but the report notes harbingers in large W–2 teams selling to national RIAs to achieve long-term capital gains tax treatment, with total deals potentially 1.5 to 2 times more than traditional recruitment packages.

6. Standalone RIA launches will become rarer.

This results from the proliferation of platform firms and supportive independence models. For the industry's top teams, however, the "do-it-yourself" RIA launch will be the model of choice. Diamond Consultants says that no other model can compare in terms of degree of autonomy, independence, customization or future monetization potential.

7. The succession crisis will get worse.

Advisors are aging rapidly, and there are too few quality next-generation ones to meet the demand. At the same time, wirehouses are among the only Wall Street firms that offer formal large-scale advisor training programs, making the industry hard to break into. More firms may embrace a "servicing advisor" model, Diamond Consultants suggests, whereby a person is paid a salary or a lower grid simply to service existing clients rather than bring in new ones.

8. Advisors will switch firms to meet client needs.

Younger affluent clients who are less ingrained in the traditional wealth management model will likely look for more personalized service, innovative technology and value-added services beyond planning and investments. Diamond Consultants says that if advisors cannot meet these demands in-house, they will likely move. In turn, digitally native firms such as Altruist, Savvy Wealth and Farther will enjoy big market-share gains.

9. An RIA or two will go public.

Private markets have been the preferred venue for large RIAs to raise capital, owing to higher multiples, fewer reporting requirements and a poor IPO market. But the valuations of the biggest RIA firms now resemble those of mid- to large-cap corporations, and Diamond Consultants expects one or two big RIAs to test the IPO market. These will serve as test cases for whether public markets will respond favorably to wealth management franchises. A positive outcome could have a major downstream effect on valuations, capital providers and the availability of capital in the space.

10. The cost of advisor inertia will increase.

For much of the past decade, advisors who were frustrated yet comfortable could afford to stay put, and that may still be the right decision for many. But going forward, this will have to be an intentional choice supported by analysis, not a default born of inertia, Diamond Consultants says.

It notes that as private equity-backed RIAs continue to drive up valuations, the opportunity cost of inaction will rise. Advisors who delay strategic decisions may find themselves with fewer options, less leverage and compressed enterprise value. Moreover, platform gaps in AI, ancillary services and a robust succession infrastructure at their firms may widen over time, creating structural disadvantages that are hard to reverse.

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