Citywire RIA reported on Oct. 19, 2026 that XY Planning Network, the Bozeman, Montana-based affiliation network for advisors, has started a search for a new president. The role is meant to succeed Vince Hockett, who plans to retire in spring 2027. XYPN first announced the search in a release dated Oct. 16 and distributed through GlobeNewswire.
According to the release, XYPN is running a national search for its next president. InvestmentNews reported that XYPN plans a transition period in which the incoming president would work alongside Hockett before he leaves. A search-firm listing for the role, which is a third-party job posting rather than a regulatory filing, says the president would be the network's operational leader, would report to the chief executive, and should have at least ten years of executive leadership experience.
Archynewsy reports that Hockett joined XYPN in March 2020 after leaving S&P Global Market Intelligence. The release says membership rose from about 1,172 advisors to 2,401 over the period since he joined. These figures are membership counts, not assets.
The release also says 110 firms are working toward RIA registration in 2026, and that over two-thirds of the network has moved beyond its launch stage. RIA Biz reported in October 2026 that the number of firms working toward registration was up from 60 a year earlier, and that XYPN had added more than 370 advisors in 2026, about 9.5 a week. The same report noted that many XYPN advisors have no assets under management. An older InvestmentNews article said almost all XYPN advisors are state-registered rather than SEC-registered.
XYPN's integrated RIA affiliation platform, Sapphire, supports more than $1 billion in client AUM, 52 advisors and more than 800 client households, according to the release. Archynewsy says Sapphire launched in 2024. RIA Biz reported in July 2026 that Sapphire had passed $1 billion in assets amid criticism of its fees, which critics tied to significant revenue sharing. Kitces responded that the fees make more sense when viewed in context.
XYPN was founded in 2014 by Alan Moore and Michael Kitces, according to RIA Biz, and is based in Bozeman. Moore and Kitces have said on XYPN's blog that the company is wholly owned by the two of them. A third-party search-firm job listing, which is not a regulatory filing, instead describes it as bootstrapped and founder-owned, with team members sharing ownership through an ESOP. The sources conflict on ownership, and the ESOP claim could not be verified. InvestmentNews lists Moore as chief executive and co-founder.
The sources do not name a candidate for the presidency or give a date for choosing one. Under the transition plan described by InvestmentNews, the incoming president would overlap with Hockett before his planned departure in spring 2027. Advisors weighing a move to an affiliation network, and recruiters tracking the sector, will want to see how the search resolves, since leadership shapes a platform's fees, support and registration path.