59% of RIAs offer long-term incentives as junior training lags

Fifty-nine percent of RIAs offer long-term incentive plans, but only 10% of RIA representatives say their firms provide robust junior training, according to DeVoe.

Fifty-nine percent of RIA representatives say their firms have clear incentive plans. Phantom equity is the most common structure at 25%, with profits interests at 20%, DeVoe found.

For an advisor weighing an offer, the two 59% figures measure different things: one counts firms with a plan, the other counts employees who say the plan is clear. A phantom-equity award that vests on a calendar pays for staying; an award tied to a successor's retention of client assets pays for building one. Only 28% of RIA representatives call the next generation highly prepared.

Broker-dealer recruiting loans moved in opposite directions in the same quarter, according to the three firms' quarterly disclosures. Stifel's recruiting loans fell more than 13% to $653 million. Ameriprise's forgivable loans to advisors rose 29% to more than $2 billion, a $447 million increase in a year, and Raymond James' recruiting pay climbed 28%.

Ameriprise chief executive James Cracchiolo told analysts the firm has no broad retention program. An RIA equity award is a claim on a valuation that may not be tested for years; a forgivable note at a broker-dealer carries a stated balance that appears in the firm's quarterly disclosure.