Financial Planning reported this month that the Couch Group returned to Morgan Stanley from UBS, a move that adds context to recent advisor flows at UBS. Financial ADVSR analyzed the SEC's investment adviser representative file, as of Nov. 10, 2026, to compare UBS with seven other large firms this year. Through October, UBS had the highest rate of advisor departures to other registered firms among the eight firms in the analysis, at 5.3 percent of its current headcount.
From January through October 2026, 505 advisors left UBS for another registered firm. UBS now has 9,457 registered investment adviser representatives. Over the same months, about 457 advisors joined UBS after working at another firm, which leaves UBS roughly 50 advisors behind on moves. The hiring figures cover UBS only, so this analysis does not compare inflows across the eight firms.
The other seven firms had lower departure rates on the same measure. Wells Fargo recorded 909 departures from 18,421 advisors, or 4.9 percent. J.P. Morgan recorded 660 from 14,461, or 4.6 percent. Merrill recorded 1,119 from 25,729, or 4.3 percent. Raymond James recorded 485 from 12,530, or 3.9 percent. RBC recorded 138 from 3,850, or 3.6 percent. Morgan Stanley recorded 747 from 23,332, or 3.2 percent. Edward Jones recorded 597 from 24,319, or 2.5 percent.
Of the 505 advisors who left UBS, the largest destination was Wells Fargo with 84. That figure splits into 44 to Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, its independent channel, and 40 to Wells Fargo Clearing Services. Morgan Stanley took 61 and RBC Capital Markets took 44. Raymond James received 44, comprising 36 at Raymond James & Associates and 8 at Raymond James Financial Services Advisors. Merrill Lynch took 36, Rockefeller 22, J.P. Morgan Securities 19, and LPL 16, which included 14 at LPL Financial and 2 at LPL Enterprise. Elevation Point Wealth Partners took 15, Steward Partners 12, and New Edge Wealth 8. Cresset also took 12, all of them in August. The remaining advisors went to dozens of other firms.
The departures did not come at a constant pace. By month of departure, 64 advisors left in January, 42 in February, 54 in March, 61 in April, 55 in May and 69 in June, for a total of 345 in the first half of the year. From July through October, the monthly totals were 36, 41, 47 and 36, for a total of 160. Monthly departures ranged from 42 to 69 in the first six months and from 36 to 47 in the last four. The second half therefore shows a slower, steady drain rather than an accelerating exodus.
Measured by the state where the advisors worked at UBS, the largest groups were in Florida with 66, New Jersey with 66, New York with 59, California with 52, Ohio with 38, Minnesota with 26, Texas with 26 and North Carolina with 24.
The method has limits. The data come from the SEC's investment adviser representative file as of Nov. 10, 2026. The count includes registered advisors whose employment history shows a job at the firm ending in January 2026 or later and who are now registered with a different firm. Advisors who retired or left the industry are not counted because they drop out of the file, so the figures measure moves to other registered firms only. Departure months come from the SEC record at month precision, and October may still rise as late filings arrive. The analysis does not examine why any advisor left, and the figures should be read as a snapshot as of Nov. 10, 2026.