Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) have become the most visible forms of inorganic growth for RIAs.
The industry saw a record number of acquisitions in 2025, while firms that acquired three or more firms since 2019 grew their AUM 185% on average. But behind such headline-grabbing boardroom activity lies a difficult reality: many RIAs cannot rely on M&A to drive sustainable growth.
Advisor recruitment offers a more scalable alternative to drive inorganic growth. This article explores the benefits and challenges of advisor recruitment—and reveals how marketing can help you attract more advisors.
Expect to learn:
Every RIA understands the value of inorganic; it drives four-fifths of the average RIA’s AUM growth. The problem is that many firms want to go “all in” on big-ticket acquisitions, rather than building a sustainable growth pipeline through advisor recruitment.
Bringing established advisors into your firm—typically via 1099 or W-2 arrangements—can drive incremental revenue and AUM. While individual recruits won’t add billions to your net assets, it is often possible to generate similar levels of growth through successful recruitment funnels as through acquiring seven-or-eight-figure AUM firms.
From the perspective of RIA growth, advisor recruitment offers:
None of this means acquisitions are not important. We are very much “pro” M&A and actively help our clients pursue acquisitions. We’ve seen the reports about 19% of advisory firms actively looking to be acquired; we know that 10% of advisors will retire in the next decade—and one-third will look for an external sale.
The point is that advisor recruitment can offer a more scalable form of inorganic growth. It is easier to drive proactively through marketing; it offers more “compounding” growth as each M&A deal is unique. But that doesn’t mean recruiting is “easy”.
RIAs looking to recruit advisors face three clear obstacles:
Overcoming both of these challenges depends on the value of your recruitment offer—and how well it delivers what advisors want from an RIA.
Research reveals that advisors value three things from RIAs:
Surveys repeatedly show that career opportunities are the most important factor for financial advisors. That means equity stakes, clear progression paths, and professional development that builds genuine competency.
Most RIAs do offer these features, but their recruitment materials rarely make them clear. Joining an RIA is a major step into the unknown for many advisors; a lack of clarity or confidence about their future within the firm will lead them to default to inaction.
A majority of advisors believe technology will be essential to their business in the next five years. But many are often frustrated with the notoriously restricted tech offerings at broker-dealers.
Your recruitment marketing must address this frustration directly. RIAs are often seen as forward-thinking; your recruitment messaging should put tech front and center. This should be about adapting, not just delivering current best-in-class tech, though. Advisors see the lifecycle of tech is shortening—and want to feel confident your firm won’t get stuck in the past.
Advisors are terrified of losing clients during a transition. Most RIA recruitment campaigns dismiss this concern and offer vague reassurances about "seamless onboarding," which strikes many advisors as empty marketing speak.
Your message should be different. Acknowledge the emotional reality advisors face when joining an RIA. Empathise with the dilemma of potentially losing clients. Then explain how your firm helps recruit to retain their book of business.
The more detail you provide about de-risking transitions, the more credible your pitch becomes. Advisors need to visualize the entire journey—not just the destination.
Simply knowing that gives you a strong competitive advantage—but you do need to put that knowledge into action.
Build a marketing funnel that hammers these points home. Address each of these pain points clearly at every touch point.
Our team used these insights to help one RIA Platform generate over $2 billion AUM in net new pipeline—and there are five steps you can take to produce similar results:
Firms often treat advisor recruitment like standard recruitment, promoting their culture and values at the expense of real depth. These are important, but fewer advisors will risk leaving their current firm just to join a “thriving culture” or repeat your corporate values.
Use the research above to revise your recruitment offer and marketing messaging. Make clear at every touch point that you offer what advisors really care about—and can deliver the kind of professional future they want.
Unless you work with a very narrow niche, you're recruiting fundamentally different types of advisors: breakaway brokers anxious about transitions, senior practitioners seeking succession solutions, younger advisors hungry for mentorship, and independent practices looking for infrastructure support.
A one-size-fits-all message resonates with no one. Develop clear messaging frameworks for each segment, investing time upfront to enable more effective and automatable marketing down the line.
Generic testimonials about "great support" and "strong culture" mean nothing. Advisors want to see themselves in your firm, which requires detailed, authentic stories about how advisors actually thrive within your organization.
Success stories must go deep: How did someone build their career? What specific training helped them? How do they use your technology daily? What was their transition experience really like?
Most advisor recruitment happens through sporadic personal outreach and networking. That's fine for opportunistic deals, but it doesn't scale—and it leaves money on the table with advisors who need more time and trust-building before they're ready to move.
Use marketing automation to build extensive nurture cycles through drip campaigns, regular webinars, and engaging content. This keeps your firm top-of-mind while educating prospects about the benefits of joining your platform.
Advisor recruitment is dynamic; what appeals to advisors today might not in the future. Your offer should evolve and refine as you gain more insight and the market shifts. The most successful RIAs treat recruitment like any other marketing program, using data to review and improve content, targeting, and overall results.
We are the only marketing agency with a purpose-built RevOp program for RIAs. Our specialist team helps plan, execute, and optimize complex campaigns that make advisor recruitment more predictable and scalable—while reducing the burden on your internal marketing team.