ADVSR Toolkit
The back office for the advisor business
The ADVSR Toolkit is Financial ADVSR’s free library for financial advisors and the people who run advice firms: 3 calculators, 32 plain-English guides, 286 side-by-side firm comparisons, 1,105 RIA profiles and original datasets built from SEC filings, and a 108-term glossary. Every figure is sourced to public records.
Folder 01
Calculators
- 01
Recruiting deal calculator
What a transition package is worth after taxes, and what you would owe if you left early.
Try it free - 02
Practice valuation calculator
A rough value for an advisory practice from its earnings, and how a buyer would likely pay it.
Try it free - 03
Payout calculator
What reaches you from the same production as a wirehouse employee, at an independent broker-dealer or running your own RIA.
Try it free
Each calculator emails you your results and a PDF report.
Folder 02
Guides
Forgivable loans: the note behind every recruiting package
A forgivable loan is recruiting money paid as a promissory note forgiven yearly while the advisor stays. How terms, early exits, back-ends and taxes work.
Breakaway advisors: the anatomy of a wirehouse exit
A breakaway advisor leaves a wirehouse or other employee firm for independence. How the move works: destinations, U4 and U5, the Broker Protocol and transfers.
RIA or broker-dealer: regulation, conduct standards and pay compared
RIAs and broker-dealers differ in regulator, standard of conduct, pay, registration and licensing. How each works and how to check an advisor's record.
Wirehouse or independent: pay, ownership and supervision side by side
How wirehouse and independent advisor models compare on employment status, payouts, costs, equity, client ownership, regulation and recruiting deals.
Payout grids compared: wirehouses, regionals and independent firms
How payout grids work at wirehouses and independent firms: production tiers, deferred pay, small-household rules, 2026 plan changes and recruiting.
RIA valuations: multiples, deal structures and what moves the price
How RIAs are priced in M&A: EBITDA vs. revenue multiples, what moves the multiple, how deals are paid, who buys, and 2025 data from DeVoe, Echelon and Fidelity.
Financial advisor pay: what government data and firm payout grids show
Personal financial advisors earned a median $105,070 in May 2025, per BLS. How pay varies by industry and channel, how payout grids work and what the data leaves out.
Vetting a financial advisor: a BrokerCheck and IAPD walkthrough
How to check a financial advisor on FINRA BrokerCheck and the SEC's IAPD: registrations, exams, disclosures, what's missing, Form CRS, ADV and red flags.
Folder 03
Comparisons
Firms advisors work at and move to
- LPL FinancialvsRaymond James
- Morgan StanleyvsMerrill
- Morgan StanleyvsUBS
- MerrillvsUBS
- Morgan StanleyvsWells Fargo
- MerrillvsWells Fargo
RIA head-to-heads
- Fisher InvestmentsvsVanguard Advisers, Inc.
- Fisher InvestmentsvsEdelman Financial Engines
- Fisher InvestmentsvsKestra Advisory Services, LLC
- Vanguard Advisers, Inc.vsEdelman Financial Engines
- Vanguard Advisers, Inc.vsCreative Planning
- Vanguard Advisers, Inc.vsMycio Wealth Partners, LLC
Folder 04
Data
- Deal data
RIA M&A Tracker
Every reported acquisition, merger and minority stake among RIAs and wealth managers this year: acquirers, targets, assets where disclosed, states and sources.
- SEC data
RIA Custody Tracker
Which custodians hold wealth-focused RIAs’ client assets, from every SEC-registered adviser’s Form ADV.
- Deal data
Regulation & Enforcement Tracker
Every SEC and FINRA action against investment advisers, brokers and their firms this year: fines, restitution, bars and outcomes, from the regulators’ own releases.
- SEC data
RIA Custodians
Profiles of every custodian RIAs use, from Schwab and Fidelity to Altruist: how many firms, assets held and the largest RIA clients.
- SEC data
The Fastest-Growing RIAs
The independent wealth managers with $1 billion or more that grew assets the most in a year, from their annual Form ADV updates.
- SEC data
The Largest RIAs
The 100 biggest independent wealth management firms by assets, with client counts and headquarters, from SEC data.
- SEC data
RIAs by State
How many SEC-registered RIAs are in each state, what they manage, and the largest independent wealth managers in each.
- SEC data
Wealth Firm Earnings
Client assets, net new assets, advisors and revenue as the public wealth firms report them each quarter and month, with the earnings calendar and a source for every figure.
- Profiles
Billion-dollar RIA profiles
Each of the 1,105 independent wealth managers with $1 billion or more, from its Form ADV.
- Monthly
RIA movers
Which billion-dollar RIAs gained or lost the most assets and rank in their latest filings.
- Monthly
The Advisor Moves Report
Every reported advisor move and firm deal, added up each month by firm and channel.
- Quarterly
The State of Advisor Recruiting
The quarter in recruiting: who won, channel flows and the most active acquirers.
Folder 05
Glossary
The industry’s jargon, defined in a sentence or two. A few to start with:
Folder 06
For reporters
Each data release has a press kit with the headline figures, lines you can quote, a chart and the data, free to use with attribution and a link.
Open the press kits