Clients (as of Q4, 2024)

In all instances, firms are looking to launch offices where they currently do not have a footprint, with the hiring of a senior advisor and/or team, as well as grow their existing offices further.

• 2 National Private Asset Managers with AUM from $100bn to $700bn+ with a base and bonus model with a publicly listed parent company

• The HNW & UHNW divisions of 2 national wirehouses with AUM from $1.5tn-$3.5 tn+ and with a commission model

• 3 Tri-State and New England HQ RIAs with AUM from $10bn to $30bn with a base, bonus and partnership model

• 2 Tri-State and CA HQ RIAs with AUM $20bn to $40 bn+ and with a commission based payout model

• A Mid-Atantic MFO with $100bn+

In-Demand Talent

My cients are mainly searching for advisors who can manage relationships with sophisticated clients and families, and/or originate new clients on a regular basis. Some firms do bifurcate the role into an 80/20 split of business development and relationship management, or vice versa. There are needs for MD/Partner level individuals, as well as emerging/next-gen talent at the VP+ level, who can bolt onto a team (if there is a specific opening) and build their practice from that team versus being a stand-alone advisor. Relationships that are most interesting remain direct with private clients, their foundations and family offices, COIs, and private endowments. Succession planning for advisors who are planning to retire in the coming years remains a hot topic to solve, and many firms are locking in mid-level advisors financially when offering them the opportunity to have clients transition to them. This is creating further blockage in the recruiting market. 

My clients are additionally interested in getting to know private bankers who are considering an alternate path – to a boutique environment such as an RIA or to a wirehouse where compensation is more transparent and guaranteed or where there is a path to equity and where historical asset raising is rewarded into perpetuity, and not just in the first year or so. Naturally, a private banker would need to be stronger at and more interested in investing and planning than banking and lending - when managing and originating clients on a going-forward basis. 

From time to time, clients have a need for other professionals on the client relationship team: relationship manager, investment advisor, wealth strategist/trust and estates advisor/wealth planner, and for those with banking and lending capabilities, a banker or (structured) lender.

Compensation

Compensation, depending on the platform, is either base and bonus (with bonus being either discretionary or highly linked to a grid) or on a commission structure in a wirehouse.

If transitioning to a wirehouse from a base and bonus model, firms can structure a package to make it worthwhile (e.g., Private Banks and RIAs to a wirehouse), but no two transition packages are the same in structure, and it very much depends on various factors - from asset portability and long-term potential to whether the individual would join a team or go solo.

Lift-Outs

In addition to hiring individuals, my clients are also interested in duos, or entire teams. This can be for an existing office or to launch a new one - where a well-known and well-connected local team will provide a strong entry into a new region.

Specifically within the RIA sector, I am also interested in speaking with executives of entire firms as an entity, as the majority of my clients are interested in an M&A opportunity if it makes more sense than hiring a specific team within it.

A couple of my clients offer the opportunity for a wirehouse team to go independent and form an RIA structure, but with the infrastructure of a large firm and a higher payout.  

Relocation Opportunities

While my clients are represented in the principal cities/regions with significant net worth where a local hire makes sense, there remains a strong demand in South Florida (especially Palm Beach and Tampa, but increasingly Miami) for domestic advisors in the North East and Midwest who wish to relocate.

There are also possibilities to move between New York, Miami, San Francisco, San Diego, and Houston for international client coverage.

Summary

The U.S. UHNW and HNW hiring market is strong for advisors, but firms remain very selective with who they are hiring, given how this segment differs from the core affluent and lower high net worth markets – from having a deep understanding of more sophisticated products and solutions to having significant experience on how to best present to an UHNW client or family, as well as knowing how the sale cycle differs.

With that said, while firms are selective, they are also pragmatic and open-minded in considering the type of platform the potential hire is currently on, so long as the clients they cover and/or originate are similar in net worth.