Q137 - Why Do Advisors Leave The Wirehouse Model For The RIA Model?

Transition To RIA Podcast · Nov 26, 2025 · 27m

We often hear about “breakaway” advisors.

That is commonly understood to refer to wirehouse advisors “breaking away” to setup their own independent practices.

It’s one of the main reasons the RIA channel has been, and continues to be, the fastest growing channel in the industry.

But why do we never hear about independent advisors going in the other direction to the wirehouse model?

Why does the river only run in one direction?

In this episode of the Transition To RIA question & answer series I explain:

Why the current trend was not always the case.

What caused the trend to now occur (for a…