DFX Advisor Movement Monitor · monthly edition
Financial advisor moves in August 2025
For RIA recruiters, wealth-firm M&A teams and advisor-industry analysts who need to see which firms are gaining and losing advisors each month.
Data read 3 November 2026, 15:03 UTC. Figures are revised once a day, after 16:00 UTC, as late filings arrive.
2,073 financial advisors changed firms in August 2025, counted from SEC Form ADV and IAPD registration records. Independent RIAs gained a net 69 from wirehouses and broker-dealer affiliated firms: 44 arrived from wirehouses and 12 went the other way; 204 arrived from broker-dealer affiliated firms and 167 went back.
2,073
advisors changed firms in August 2025
69
net advisors gained by independent RIAs from wirehouses and broker-dealer affiliated firms in August 2025
5,799
advisors changed firms in 2026 Q3
24,416
advisors changed firms, 2025 Q4 to 2026 Q3
How much August 2025 may still rise
August 2025 reads 2,073, in line with the March 2025 to June 2025 monthly average of 2,066. Late registrations can still add a few moves; the next edition prints the revised count.
Channel to channel, August 2025
Rows are the kind of firm an advisor left, columns the kind they joined. Darker cells hold more moves.
- Wirehouse121
- Broker-dealer affiliated137
- Independent RIA44
- Newly formed firm1
- State-registered RIA0
- Wirehouse120
- Broker-dealer affiliated665
- Independent RIA204
- Newly formed firm39
- State-registered RIA25
- Wirehouse12
- Broker-dealer affiliated167
- Independent RIA205
- Newly formed firm41
- State-registered RIA34
- Wirehouse and Independent RIA: 44 moved to Independent RIA firms, 12 moved the other way, a net 32 toward Independent RIA firms.
- Broker-dealer affiliated and Independent RIA: 204 moved to Independent RIA firms, 167 moved the other way, a net 37 toward Independent RIA firms.
- Wirehouse and Broker-dealer affiliated: 137 moved to Broker-dealer affiliated firms, 120 moved the other way, a net 17 toward Broker-dealer affiliated firms.
The last six months
| Month | Advisors who changed firms |
|---|---|
| March 2025 | 2,004 |
| April 2025 | 2,208 |
| May 2025 | 2,016 |
| June 2025 | 2,034 |
| July 2025 | 2,175 |
| August 2025 | 2,073 |
Who gained and lost advisors, last 90 days
Net advisors joined minus advisors who left each firm, from the same SEC registrations. Bulk transfers and same-firm re-registrations are left out. The newest moves, dated, are on the DFX RIA Movement Tracker.
See who in your network knows the firms gaining advisors: upload your contacts
Largest net gains
- 310 joined, 149 left, NYAsk DFX about this firm
- 461 joined, 304 left, SCAsk DFX about this firm
- 105 joined, 17 left, COAsk DFX about this firm
- 166 joined, 84 left, FLAsk DFX about this firm
- 96 joined, 15 left, NYAsk DFX about this firm
Largest net losses
- 14 joined, 152 left, MAAsk DFX about this firm
- Edward Jones-6481 joined, 145 left, MOAsk DFX about this firm
- 225 joined, 282 left, NYAsk DFX about this firm
- 39 joined, 90 left, NYAsk DFX about this firm
- 165 joined, 208 left, MNAsk DFX about this firm
+5 additional gaining firms in the top 10
Every name, record and relationship behind this count, with the source on each.
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+5 additional losing firms in the top 10
Every name, record and relationship behind this count, with the source on each.
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The names behind these moves
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Method
A move is an advisor's registration ending at one firm (CRD) and starting at another, from SEC Form ADV and IAPD registration records; same-firm re-registrations and bulk corporate transfers are excluded; complete quarters only; history before 15 September 2026 counts only people still registered, so earlier quarters are lower bounds. Not observed: why anyone moved or the client assets that moved with them.
This edition counts one complete month, by the day each advisor left. The series begins with the fourth quarter of 2024. Counted hourly from the published RIA views; the tracker's method page has the channel definitions: DFX RIA Movement Tracker.
Cite and reuse
Recommended citation:
DFX Advisor Movement Monitor, August 2025 edition (dfxintel.com/trackers/ria-movement/monitor/2025-08), CC BY 4.0.
Quarterly counts by move type: data.csv (free to reuse with attribution, CC BY 4.0).
Every month since October 2024, by the channel advisors left and joined: monthly.csv (README, CC BY 4.0).