Advisor articles.
Practical analysis of advisor movement, transition economics, business-model fit, and the decisions that come before a move.
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Business-model alignment
Business-model alignment means choosing the structure that best supports the clients you serve, the work you want to own, and the enterprise value you want to build—not simply the model with the highest headline payout.
TOPICClient portability and transition planning
A sound advisor transition plan separates what can be prepared privately from what can happen only after resignation, then tests every step against the advisor's agreements, Protocol status, client relationships, and launch plan.
TOPICAdvisor transition readiness
An advisor is transition-ready when the reason for moving is durable, the client and economic assumptions have been tested, the destination criteria are clear, and the next reversible step can be taken without forcing a premature resignation.
TOPICTransition economics and recruiting packages
Advisor transition economics should compare the full term—not just upfront cash—including forgivable-note liability, production hurdles, payout, lost deferred compensation, transition costs, taxes, and the value of equity that may be built.
TOPICPractice valuation, succession, and exit
A practice has transferable value when the advisor owns or controls an asset that a buyer or successor can continue—durable client relationships, recurring revenue, documented operations, and a transition plan—not merely personal production.
All articles.
Newest first. Each article includes the underlying sources and related questions, and many include a companion episode in the Advisor Growth Lab podcast directory.
Who does my compliance when I go independent?
Your firm does.
AUG 13What is a TAMP? The turnkey-platform question every breakaway hits
A TAMP, or turnkey asset management program, is an outside platform that runs the investment and back-office side of a practice for you: model portfolios,
AUG 13Independent RIA, explained: the model, the math, and who it actually fits
An independent RIA is a registered investment adviser firm you own, registered under the Investment Advisers Act with the SEC or your state and held to a fiduciary duty.
AUG 13Edward Jones layoffs: how to read the signal and weigh your real options
If Edward Jones layoffs or a restructuring put your seat in question, treat it as information about the firm's direction, not a verdict on your worth.
AUG 13TRO: what happens when your old firm goes to court to stop your move
A TRO (temporary restraining order) is a short-lived court order, generally expiring after fourteen days under the federal rules,
JUL 21The advisor transition checklist: seven steps
An advisor considering a move is running two jobs at once: the practice everyone can see, and a project nobody can know about yet.
JUL 21The four phases of an advisor transition
The fear here is rarely the decision itself. It is the picture of the middle: clients in limbo, accounts in transit, a practice on pause.
JUL 21The two halves of every recruiting deal
Advisor recruiting packages are structured in two halves.
JUL 21How much is a financial advisor transition deal worth?
Behind "how much is the deal worth" there is usually a more practical question: can I cover the income gap while my business resets.
JUL 21How deferred comp and retention money hold you
Most advisors searching this phrase are not confused about the definition.
JUL 21How many clients do you lose switching firms? What actually decides it
There is no single honest number for how many clients you lose switching firms.
JUL 21How to explore other firms without your firm finding out
Quietly researching other firms is legal and normal — your firm generally cannot see conversations you have on your own time, on your own devices, away from its systems.
JUL 21Five things to get right before you resign
How to resign as a financial advisor comes down to five things: read the employment agreement you actually signed,
JUL 21What decides non-compete enforceability
Sometimes. Whether a financial advisor's non-compete is enforceable is decided case by case, not by the fact that you signed it.
JUL 21What governs a non-Protocol exit
Advisors at Morgan Stanley and UBS ask this question more carefully than almost anyone else in the industry, and they should.
JUL 21Four things to get right before leaving Edward Jones
The question advisors actually type is some version of how to quit Edward Jones without losing the practice they spent years building.
JUL 21From captive insurance to independent RIA
Most of the breakaway coverage in this industry is written for wirehouse advisors.
JUL 21What an independent broker-dealer actually is — and how the model really works
An independent broker-dealer is a FINRA-member firm that supports advisors who run their own practices under its licenses, supervision,
JUL 21What actually changes when you go independent
A day in the life of an independent financial advisor looks more ordinary than most advisors expect.
JUL 21Three tests of whether you own a business
An advisor's business model is still working if it passes three tests. The asset test: could you sell what you have built, or pass it on?
JUL 21Why the conflict is built into the model
Advisors fighting their own firm are almost always feeling a structural conflict, not a personal one.
JUL 21The years-long think before independence
Most advisors think about going independent for years, not months.
JUL 21Whether you own anything to sell
Advisor practice equity value is what your practice is worth as an asset you can sell, transfer, or pass on, and it only exists where you own the client relationships.
JUL 21Financial advisor succession planning: own it to sell it
If you are in the back half of your career, one question probably visits you more often than it used to: how does this end?
JUL 21What is the Broker Protocol, and what can you actually take when you leave?
If you are weighing a move, this document decides more about your first week at a new firm than the recruiting deal does.
JUL 21Whether clients actually follow a move
Whether your clients will follow you if you leave your firm depends less on an industry average than on how each relationship was built.
JUL 21What leaving Merrill actually involves
The part most advisors can't picture is the gap: the stretch between handing in a resignation and being operational somewhere new, with clients, accounts,
JUL 21What is a breakaway advisor? The four things the word actually carries
The word gets used like it describes one cinematic exit. It does not. It does not.
JUL 21What AUM do you need to break away? Less than the folklore says
There is no universal AUM minimum for breaking away from a wirehouse, and anyone quoting a precise figure is selling something.
JUL 21What holds financial advisors back from independence? Not the logistics
Fidelity's Advisor Movement Study found that 56% of advisors had considered switching firms within a five-year window, and roughly one in four actually moved.
JUL 21The wirehouse model, explained
Most advisors weighing a wirehouse exit are not confused about whether they could build something better on the other side.
JUL 21Gross payout versus net payout
The feeling of building someone else's business is one of the most common reasons good advisors start looking around.
JUL 21The check versus equity trade
A large upfront recruiting check pays you now to stay an employee; building your own firm pays you later for taking on ownership and risk.
JUL 21RIA vs broker dealer: what the difference actually is, and how advisors choose
Most advisors typing "ria vs broker dealer" into a search bar are not studying for a licensing exam.
JUL 21Whether the broker-dealer still earns its keep
Should you leave your broker dealer? Not on the strength of a bad week, and not because a recruiter's number looked good either.
JUL 21When to drop the broker-dealer layer
Leaving an independent broker-dealer for an RIA comes down to three questions: how much of your revenue is genuinely fee-based,
JUL 21Start my own RIA or join one? The three roads, and how to tell which one fits
Most advisors who ask this question have already made the hard decision. They want independence; what they cannot see is the shape of it.
JUL 21Supported independence, explained
The independence conversation usually gets presented as a choice between two extremes.
JUL 21What the W-2 vs 1099 line changes
W-2 vs 1099 is the employee-versus-owner line for financial advisors.
JUL 21What is my book of business worth? The four things that decide the number
A financial advisor's book of business is usually valued as a multiple of the revenue it produces, and that multiple sits in a wide band rather than at one universal figure.
JUL 21Retiring as a financial advisor: the four ways out of the practice you built
A retiring financial advisor has four broad exits: internal succession, external sale, a sunset or retire-in-place program, or a managed wind-down.
JUL 08The clawback math nobody walks you through before the 7-year note
Model the forgivable note as a liability before treating it as a bonus.
JUL 07Your firm just got bought. Read the retention offer before you sign.
Look past the headline number to the term, grid, restrictions, and opportunity cost.
JUL 06How to know if you are actually ready to leave your firm
Separate dissatisfaction with the current firm from readiness to move the practice.
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