Wirehouses shed 517 advisors net in H1 2026 as 41 large teams leave

The four wirehouses lost 517 experienced advisors on a net basis in the first half of 2026, according to Diamond Consultants' 2026 H1 Advisor Transition Report: Wirehouse-Focused Edition. Louis and Jason Diamond walked through the count on their Oct. 8 podcast: 1,449 departures against 932 joiners at Merrill, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Wells Fargo.

Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley finished the half as net winners, while Merrill and UBS recorded significant net losses in the report's firm-by-firm analysis.

Forty-one teams managing more than $500 million left a wirehouse during those six months, including 20 teams managing $1 billion or more. That is roughly seven large books a month.

Nearly half of departing wirehouse advisors chose some form of independence, per the report; more than half remained in an employee model.

Jason Diamond said the four wirehouses no longer compete primarily with one another. Competition now comes from regional firms, boutiques, independent broker-dealers, RIAs, platform providers and other emerging models. More than 200 firms recruited at least one wirehouse advisor during the first half.

On Sept. 6, this publication flagged the quieter, single-advisor moves as the ones to watch. Diamond's half-year count focuses on large-team departures, treating them as their own subject and covering why teams move and recruiting economics. The report says wirehouses continue to win sophisticated advisors even as attrition rises. The 41 teams above $500 million are the unit of advisor movement the four firms should watch.