The tempo of advisors going RIA is quickening, says Advisory Services Network’s Trey Prescott

More and extra advisors have shifted over to the RIA model in 2026, in line with Trey Prescott, director of trade growth at Advisory Services Network.

Speaking to InvestmentNews on the Schwab IMPACT 2026 event in Boston, Prescott defined that ASN has had 28 launches to date this yr, up from about 23 last year.

“The smallest group was about $10 million in fee-based AUM, the most important was about $300 million,” mentioned Prescott. “We’re engaged on a deal proper now that’s about  $600 million to $700 million complete.”

About a 3rd of ASN’s 28 launches this yr have concerned corporations that had been previously within the wirehouse surroundings, in line with Prescott.

The Atlanta-based fiduciary RIA companions with corporations that need independence. ASN additionally serves as a custodian for Charles Schwab, Fidelity, Pershing, Goldman Sachs, SEI, and AssetMark.

“We have advisors which are leaving the wirehouses … and leaving main dealer sellers, who really feel that they’re being nickel and dimed,” mentioned Prescott.

A recent report by recruiting and consulting agency Diamond Consultants discovered that wirehouse attrition on the massive 4 Wall Street corporations – Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Wells Fargo, and UBS, has been climbing in 2026.

The ASN director of trade growth mentioned that he’s seeing traction associated to Fidelity’s recent $100 million custody minimum announcement.

“Since Fidelity made their announcement, we’re speaking to 52 new teams,” he informed InvestmentNews. “That’s all teams underneath $100 million … quite a lot of these teams are unbelievably nice matches for us.”

The variety of RIAs on the excessive finish of the trade can be rising. Research launched final week by Cerulli Associates mentioned that the variety of RIAs managing greater than $5 billion in property has virtually doubled over the previous 5 years, leaping from 194 to 343.