Cetera's enterprise channel becomes the $1B exit
Sierra Ridge's $2.1 billion move shows the recruiting war now turns on growth infrastructure, not payout grids.
September 1
The Move Desk 12 stories this week · 65 total
Altruist's RIA soul faces its real test at renewal
Advisors should treat Wenk's Bogle talk as cultural comfort; the renewal contract is where binding terms get set.
Cetera lands Sierra Ridge's $2.1 billion with an OSJ runway
Thirteen months after praising LPL, Sierra Ridge left for Cetera's enterprise channel — a sign that transition promises expire when growth plans outgrow the platform.
NASAA cuts third-fail retest wait to 60 days
Candidates retesting after three failures will wait 120 days less, starting Jan. 4.
A $35 option on returning to advice
NASAA's exam-extension program keeps lapsed Series 65s alive — pending state adoption.
Altruist advisors should audit pricing and product shelf before the Vanguard deal closes
A Vanguard-owned Altruist will test whether the platform's independence was real. Advisors should negotiate protections now.
Vanguard's Altruist bet reprices every RIA custody renewal
The $4.6 billion deal doesn't move assets today, but it hands advisors leverage at the next renewal.
Vanguard's $4B Altruist bet is really about Hazel
For advisors shopping custody, the price tag says the AI engine, not the clearing platform, is the asset Vanguard is buying.
IBD Elite's women-advisor ranking gives breakaway teams a culture benchmark
The share of women advisors at independent brokerages is a metric worth demanding in any affiliation conversation, alongside payout grids and transition packages.
Vanguard-Altruist deal turns custody independence into an open question
Advisors should watch pricing, service, and product terms for signs that Altruist's new parent is favoring its own investors.
Cresset pulls $4B UBS team, resets breakaway floor
A 16-person Boca Raton team chose a PE-backed RIA over a wirehouse, and the private-wealth recruiting math has shifted.
LPL's $1.6B Cambridge grab sets the breakaway benchmark
A 24-advisor, multi-generational team's move from Cambridge shows what a platform must offer to win a breakaway.
Goldman's late custody entry: a product, not a platform
Advisors weighing the fledgling custodian face a managed-account restriction and a nudge toward Goldman's trading and financing desks.
Clawback verdict: $5.6 million reminder of the cost of leaving
A wirehouse broker who left after two years lost his arbitration fight over a recruiting loan — a caution for advisors weighing independence.
Edelman's TRO shows an advisor's non-solicit clause followed him to RFG
A Washington court barred a departing Edelman advisor from soliciting clients, a sign that non-solicit agreements travel with advisors into the RIA channel.
Abound's $300 Million Move Tests Prospera's 2.5:1 Support Pledge
A $300 million practice's move to Prospera puts the independent platform's 2.5:1 home-office headcount pledge in the spotlight.
Cetera's fifth channel puts every independence option under one roof
Jen Hanau will lead the fifth channel, covering everything from W-2 employment to full RIA ownership. Cetera hasn't published the economics.
Cetera unites Avantax, TRPG under one $19B RIA
Cetera folds Avantax Planning Partners and The Retirement Planning Group into one RIA, promising advisors they won't have to choose between today and the future.
NASAA cuts retest wait to 60 days after a third failure
Failed candidates can retake the exam four months sooner.
The Foreman Rial Group's wirehouse jump is a pricing lesson
The Foreman Rial Group's move to Morgan Stanley shows what a lift-out check must cover — and the risk the advisors take on.
A $14 million Merrill team jumps to Rockefeller in Ohio
The hire extends Rockefeller's run of wirehouse recruits and puts a 43-year Merrill veteran on a family-office platform.
A 35-day round trip shows the risk in a wirehouse transition
David Powell left Morgan Stanley for RBC and was back in a month. The episode is a lesson in what a shared book means for a transition package.
LPL's road to 90% retention runs through smaller Commonwealth books
The commitment rate sits in the low 80s and is lopsided: larger, faster-growing Commonwealth teams have signed, so the 90% target depends on smaller practices.
IBD Elite 2026 ranks 37 brokerages; clearing costs stay hidden
The annual revenue ranking gives advisors a rare public measure of brokerage scale; a companion feature explains why clearing and custody costs stay hidden.
Most advisors never see the true cost of clearing and custody
Financial Planning's 41st annual IBD Elite study finds the price of clearing and custody buried under so many layers that few advisors ever see it.