Big four wirehouses lost a net 517 experienced advisors in first half of 2026

The four big wirehouses — Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Wells Fargo — lost a net 517 experienced advisors in the first half of 2026, according to Diamond Consultants' Financial Advisor Transition Report. Diamond counts an advisor as experienced at three years or more in the industry.

That total is already larger than the 302 the same four firms lost in all of 2025. Financial Planning, which reported the figures, described this year's pace of wirehouse departures as possibly record-setting.

A separate Cerulli Associates poll points to what advisors find appealing about wirehouse platforms. Access to lending products led the list, cited by 89% of respondents as one of the most appealing services wirehouses offer.

Cerulli concluded that compensation remains a significant factor for advisors looking for new firms but not the top priority. The firm presented the survey items as steps wirehouses could take to capture advisors in transition for themselves.

Jason Diamond, president of Diamond Consultants, said the wirehouses have a few handicaps in common. Many built their wealth management businesses over the years through a series of acquisitions, and longtime advisors integrated into a much larger firm often complain of a loss of culture, he said. Wirehouse advisors also tend to complain about onerous compliance requirements and pressure to sell products and services from the firm's banks.

As advisors become willing to change firms multiple times during their careers, many are moving to broker-dealers and RIAs promising independence from corporate bosses, Financial Planning reported.

Diamond acknowledged there is likely some overshooting in his firm's data. The transition report was compiled from research firms AdvizorPro, FINTRX and Discovery Data, along with media reports and Diamond Consultants' own tracking of advisor moves.

For an advisor weighing a wirehouse offer, the Cerulli items are a reasonable list of questions: what lending products the platform offers, how it staffs work for high-net-worth clients, and what the research and technology teams deliver. The poll records what respondents call appealing, not what they chose, and the Diamond total counts net moves across four firms over six months rather than any one advisor's outcome.