The Real Reasons W-2 Advisors Leave
Despite what the industry headlines machines portray, the large majority of W-2 advisor teams I meet do not leave chasing the recruiting payout. They move when three things become impossible to ignore: control, economics that make sense, and long-term ownership.
Today, I want to look at the tipping points of all three with a simple purpose: helping W-2 and wire house advisors see the trajectory of their success earlier. Why?
In a simple sense, it won’t be easier in 10 years. If you double assets under management, the complexity doubles too, including more staff, more tech, more repapering, and more risk. If you know a move is in your future, earlier is almost always cleaner. Let’s take a look.
Client Experience Struggles
First, control of the client experience. You can feel it when control slips, primarily due to rigidity or outright unreliable support. Some common frustrations I hear in meetings include billing that won’t flex, household minimums you don’t believe in, and clunky portals that clients complain about. (Shouldn’t the big firms with big pockets be winning here?)
The breaking point usually isn’t a spreadsheet as much as it is the text from a client who can’t log in, the email about an inflexible fee, or the family you want to serve below a threshold you didn’t set. That’s when otherwise content advisors look up.
Questions to ask yourself:
Can I price and bill the way I believe is right?
Are my client-facing tools a net positive, or do I spend time apologizing for them?
Are policies forcing me into a service model that isn’t mine?
Economics and Payout
Second, do the economics still line up with the work? A 40–50% payout may feel fair when you’re new. At one to two million dollars in revenue, giving up about half of that amount (to a platform that isn’t creating commensurate value) stops making sense. When advisors run the math, the misalignment becomes obvious. The answer isn’t always “go independent,” but it is always “re-underwrite the value you’re paying for.”
A quick exercise: list every recurring cost deducted from your revenue. Next to each, write the corresponding value you’d actually miss. Circle any line where the value doesn’t match the expense.
Long Term Ownership
Third, ownership and identity. At a certain point, leads aren’t coming from the bank. They’re coming from you. Top performing advisors generate growth from your referrals, your reputation, and your community.
You start to want what you’ve actually built: a business you can shape, a schedule you control, a team you choose, and eventually a sellable asset. That identity shift is the quiet driver behind most moves. This is the #1 reason I hear when I meet wire house advisors who are checking if the grass is greener on the independent side.
What to do next:
Audit the client experience and list five friction points you’d change tomorrow if you could.
Re-underwrite your platform with a two-column list: what you pay, what you receive.
Define your ownership goal: lifestyle practice or enterprise? Succession internal or external?
Time-box your decision. Before your next major growth step, put a date on exploring options.
Freedom, in all three of these conversations, is best measured with simple, practical questions. Can you do what you want to build the best business you can? If the answer is no, this tends to rub top performers the wrong way.
I’ll end with this: everything you enjoy about your W-2 or big brand experience can be replicated (and done better) by the modern independent space.
It’s worth exploring what your options are. That’s what I’m here to do: shorten your search, give you the fast track to the best fits for you, and help you vet them step by step. Maybe you leave, and perhaps you don’t, but I find the current industry eye-opening for those who have only known the corporate side.
A call with me is free, fully discreet, and one of the best investments of time you can make in your business.