It’s no secret that advisors are leaving the profession, but there’s a lot going on under the surface.

The overall financial advisor headcount dropped again in 2025, with more professionals exiting the field than entering, according to a recent analysis by data firm AdvizorPro, but the rate of attrition varied by channel. While the independent advisor segment remained the runaway winner, the wirehouse channel lost fewer advisors than in previous years, signalling a potential shift in how the largest wealth management companies are retaining talent.

“Traditionally, you come into the industry, you potentially start at a wirehouse: your JPMorgans, your Merrills, your Wells. You put in your time in there and then move on,” said Hesom Parhizkar, cofounder of AdvizorPro. “It looks like that’s kind of changing now.”

Greener Pastures

One reason for the decline in attrition is that the industry’s largest firms are implementing more programs to keep advisors interested in staying put, Parhizkar said. UBS, for example, recently rolled out its 2026 compensation plan, which will raise the payout rate for advisors generating between $1 million and $3 million in revenue by half a percentage point. “They understand that folks are leaving, and sometimes in droves,” Parhizkar said. “They’re doing more incentives to allow them to stay and debunk the whole, ‘Hey, the grass is greener on the other side’ [by saying] ‘no, it’s better here.’”

In 2025, wirehouses lost just 1,864 advisors to other channels, compared with 3,501 in 2021, according to AdvizorPro data. The research also found:

• Broker-dealers lost 4,057 advisors to other channels in 2025, a figure that’s significantly lower than in 2021, when the channel’s headcount decreased by more than 13,000.
• More than 17,000 advisors joined the RIA channel from other channels, up from 8,090 in 2021.

“[The wires are] making it much more attractive to stay,” Parhizkar said.

M&A Support Line. But the most common advisor move was actually within the RIA channel. Indie-to-indie shifts were the most common for advisors on the move, with dually-registered firms — those operating as both a broker-dealer and RIA — coming in second in terms of within-channel movement.

Parhizkar said part of the rising RIA headcount stems from increasingly available tools that help advisors venture out on their own. “A lot of these private wealth teams are dually registered, and then if they do break away… they usually just file as an RIA, so there’s some of that as well,” he added. “There’s a lot of [M&A] infrastructure nowadays. In the last couple of years, a lot of companies have spun up to help facilitate breakaways, whether that’s [using] technology, compliance or financing.”

Donald Trump’s brand is one of the most recognizable on the planet, but can it help the two-time president break into a competitive ETF marketplace?

Trump Media & Technology Group and asset manager Yorkville America Equities launched five America First-themed ETFs last month. The passive, thematic funds hold companies that “really stand for America and attempt to avoid themselves of biases,” Steve Neamtz, Yorkville America president, told Advisor Upside at an opening bell event at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. While Trump’s rhetoric has helped him sell everything from golden sneakers to autographed guitars and crypto, whether that appeal translates to clients and traditional investors remains uncertain. However, advisors generally caution against letting politics drive investment strategies.

“Political ETFs have run the gamut of performance, but generally, they underperform the market due to a lack of diversification and higher costs,” said Bryan Armour, director of ETF and passive strategies research at Morningstar.

Truthiness

Though still early, the funds appear to be more than just the Trump name. “From a purely investment perspective, the Truth Social ETFs are fairly differentiated, since they tend to hold stocks across multiple sectors,” said Aniket Ullal, head of ETF research and analytics at CFRA. As of Monday, the new ETFs had amassed roughly $46 million in net assets combined. The five funds include:

• Truth Social American Security & Defense ETF (TSSD).
• Truth Social American Next Frontiers ETF (TSFN).
• Truth Social American Icons ETF (TSIC).
• Truth Social American Energy Security ETF (TSES).
• Truth Social American Red State REITs ETF (TSRS).

Ullal highlighted TSSD, which allocates 45% of its portfolio to the IT sector, far more than comparable defense funds. TSES, meanwhile, spans both energy and utilities, unlike the widely popular Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE), which concentrates on a single sector. All five funds carry expense ratios of 0.65%, above the 0.48% average for US equity factor and thematic ETFs, though not unusually so, Ullal added.

On a long-term basis, thematic ETFs struggle to deliver better returns than the market, Armour said. Outside of TSRS — which targets real estate companies earning most of their revenues in states that voted for a Republican presidential candidate in two of the past three elections — thematic exposures should influence performance more than politics, he added.

Anti-Woke? The funds might bar companies from their underlying indexes if any five of six listed conditions are met. Those criteria include having DEI hiring quotas, which are arguably distinct from broader diversity goals. Another is whether firms sever relationships over political or religious beliefs or participate in boycotts, divestments or sanctions. However, the vast majority of stocks should still fit within the rules of the funds’ underlying index, making it, dare we say, inclusive.

Keep it up.

US retirement assets reached a record $48.1 trillion by the end of the third quarter, up 4.5% from the previous quarter, according to new data from the Investment Company Institute. That type of wealth isn’t built overnight; instead, it illustrates a savings mindset that Americans have been bolstering for decades. “Today’s account balances reflect years of paycheck-by-paycheck contributions,” ICI told Advisor Upside in a statement.

Still, on the individual level, things aren’t as rosy. “The aggregate figure masks a more sobering reality for many savers: Most Americans do not feel adequately prepared for retirement,” said Mike Casey, founder of AE Advisors. It’s one of the many reasons why some advisors are pushing for greater access to clients’ 401(k)s to help guide them through retirement.

Safe and Sound

By the end of September, retirement savings accounted for just over a third of all household financial assets. IRAs continue to be the largest segment, growing to nearly $19 trillion, up more than 5% from the second quarter. Since 2000, almost all of the money flowing into IRAs has been from either workplace plan rollovers or contributions to employer-sponsored IRAs, like SIMPLE IRAs, according to ICI.

The data also found:

• Employer-based defined contribution plans grew to almost $14 trillion, and about $10 trillion of that was held in 401(k)s.

• Going even deeper, $5.8 trillion in those 401(k)s are managed by mutual funds, with equity and hybrid funds being the dominant investment strategies.

Satisfaction with 401(k)s is often mixed, though. Participants value automatic features and employer contributions, but they regularly bump against limited investment choices, high fees in some plans and minimal guidance, Casey told Advisor Upside.

Reality Bites. Investors are becoming more savings-minded, but progress appears to have slowed recently. Just over half of Americans either reduced or stopped contributing to their retirement savings in the past six months, with many choosing to prioritize healthcare expenses instead, according to Allianz data. Furthermore, 47% say they have had to dip into their retirement savings.

“Closing the preparedness gap requires continued innovation: stronger auto-escalation, broader access to low-cost advice and perhaps guaranteed income options,” Casey said.