We know a guy who knows a guy.

Retail investment platform Robinhood and custodian TradePMR launched the pilot for their RIA referral program, the Robinhood Advisor Network, this week. The program is currently limited to RIAs with at least $500 million in assets and a TradePMR relationship. During the pilot, Robinhood employees with at least $250,000 in assets can connect with RIAs. When fully operational later this year, the program will extend to Robinhood customers. Participating RIAs must pay 25% of all revenue from referrals to Robinhood Asset Management, according to regulatory filings.

Though Charles Schwab and Fidelity dominate the referral space, Robinhood and TradePMR are the latest entrants in a quickly growing segment of wealth management. For advisors, the more referral programs, the merrier, it seems.

¿Por qué no los Dos?

California-based Mission Wealth joined Schwab’s program in 2003, but growth surged in 2010 when it also joined Fidelity’s network. “I think of these programs as a competitive bake-off,” said Matt Adams, Mission CEO. “We get a couple thousand referrals a year, but you don’t win automatically. You need an offering equal to or better than firms 10 times your size.”

Mission now gains about $2 billion in new client assets annually from participating in both referral programs, he added.

Robinhood acquired TradePMR and first announced the referral program more than a year ago. Since then, plenty of other firms have made similar moves:

• Robo-advisor Betterment introduced its Betterment Advisor Network pilot for a small group of RIAs last month.
• Goldman Sachs Ayco started a referral program in January, with Creative Planning, Mercer Advisors and Wealth Enhancement among early participants.
• BNY Pershing plans to connect advisors with retail clients later this year.

Room for One More? While Schwab and Fidelity have been major drivers of RIA growth, many clients were baby boomers, the oldest of whom are turning 80 this year, and the pool is shrinking, said Robb Baldwin, TradePMR founder. “If they’ve raised their hand and said, ‘Hey, I want an advisor,’ it’s more than likely already happened,” he told Advisor Upside. He added that Robinhood and TradePMR aim to refer Gen Z and millennial clients, who already make up most of Robinhood’s 27 million-customer base. We suppose that’s a good headstart.

The brokerage referee is reconsidering how it calls fouls.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, better known as FINRA, is weighing a potentially sweeping overhaul of its arbitration system, and it wants the public’s input. On Monday, the regulator asked for responses to dozens of questions related to the way it resolves disputes between brokerage firms and their customers. It’s an attempt by the brokerage industry’s self-regulator, a not-for-profit organization, to respond to critics who have complained about how the system works, and to openly ask whether some disputes, particularly complex cases or those involving large-dollar claims, should be routed elsewhere.

“Do participants still experience FINRA arbitration as less expensive and faster than litigation?” the body asks. “Are there changes that FINRA should consider making to its arbitration forum to make it more expeditious and cost effective relative to courts?”

New Year, New FINRA

FINRA’s arbitration forum is typically the default venue for resolving clashes between investors and brokerage firms. Critics, however, have claimed recently about a lax approach to dispensing punishments (a recent analysis found that in 2025, FINRA filed 127 fewer formal disciplinary actions than the year before) as well as a focus on smaller independent broker-dealers that often don’t have the resources to fight back. Last year, despite the dropoff in overall disciplinary actions, the body pursued 103 formal actions against small firms, defined as those with one to 150 representatives — a 27% increase from 2024, per the same report from CSG Law. “There’s long been a perception by small firms that they get treated more harshly by FINRA,” Lisa Colone, CSG Law’s chair, told InvestmentNews. “These statistics bolster that perception.”

Industry leaders also worry that, following FINRA disciplinary actions, “bad brokers” just go somewhere else. According to a recent study from asset management research firm Alpha Architect:

• About 30% of FINRA-sanctioned brokers remain active in the industry within two years.
• Firms that hire these brokers have a 25% higher rate of future misconduct than peers that don’t.

One Battle After Another. FINRA is also facing legal conflicts of its own. In November 2024, three federal judges blocked the agency’s attempt to expel a member firm, which would have effectively barred the firm from the securities industry, determining that the move required review by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Will AI agents ever replace human financial advisors?

Experts who have debated the question broadly agree that the human connection between advisors and clients will endure in the AI age. That doesn’t necessarily hold true, however, for middle- and back-office staff. Will the technology decimate operational roles that have provided meaningful (if more menial) employment opportunities to thousands? It’s likely, experts agreed, but there’s a silver lining.

“It’s a legitimate question and an important one for advisor firm leaders and industry stakeholders to contemplate,” Altruist Chief Operating Officer Mazi Bahadori told Advisor Upside in the wake of his firm’s market-moving AI tax planning tool launch. “We’ve been in the headlines recently for our Hazel platform. So, we’ve seen what advisory firms do when they don’t need their people working on repetitive operational tasks. What they do and don’t do may surprise you.”

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