The $100B Question: Why Are the Majority of All $10M+ Wirehouse Teams Landing at Wells Fargo?
Something significant is happening in the upper echelons of wealth management, and the numbers don't lie. Of the last 25 teams managing $10M or more in trailing-12-month production to make a move, 15 of them, a full 60%, landed at either Wells Fargo Advisors or Wells Fargo FiNet.
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Something significant is happening in the upper echelons of wealth management, and the numbers don't lie.
Of the last 25 teams managing $10M or more in trailing-12-month production to make a move, 15 of them, a full 60%, landed at either Wells Fargo Advisors or Wells Fargo FiNet. Combined, those 25 moves represented more than $340M in T-12 revenue and north of $100 billion in assets under management, and Wells Fargo captured the lion's share. That's not a trend. That's a tidal shift.
So what's driving it?
For the full breakdown of where teams are moving, see our report: Major $10M+ Wirehouse Team Moves.
The Economics Are Simply in a Different League
Let's start with the obvious: the money is extraordinary.
Wells Fargo PCG is offering some of the most competitive economic packages on record. In addition, their comp cash payouts and deferred awards are also competitively some of the industry’s highest. For a $15M team, that's a transition package that can exceed $75 million in total deal value. That is not a typo.
At FiNet, the independent channel, the picture is equally compelling. Net 1099 payouts are extremely high, paired with cash transition capital that are also competitively some of the industry’s highest. This allows advisors who want full independence a path to keep nearly every dollar they generate, all while accessing the balance sheet and institutional capabilities of one of the largest private banks in the country.
The Moves Speak for Themselves
The migration spans every major wirehouse and geography. Consider just a handful of the recent headline moves:
Hingham Street Partners (Boston, MA), a $38.5M / $6.3B team, departed UBS for Wells Fargo Advisors in December 2025. Months later, Weikes Slattery Group (New York City, NY), with $17M in production and $3.1B in AUM, made the move from JP Morgan Advisors to Wells Fargo Advisors in February 2026. And in May 2026, The Taylor Group, a $19M / $6B New York City powerhouse, left Morgan Stanley for Wells Fargo Advisors.
These aren't junior teams testing the market. These are established, multi-billion-dollar franchises making deliberate, calculated decisions. When teams managing billions in client assets move, they've done the math, many times over.
It's Not Just the Money
The economics get advisors to the table. What closes the deal is the platform.
Wells Fargo has quietly assembled one of the most comprehensive capability sets in the wirehouse world. The private banking platform is massive yet very sophisticated, an extremely competitive lending platform, trust services, and capital markets, and critically, those capabilities are nearly identical whether an advisor chooses the W-2 (PCG) or 1099 (FiNet) path. That's a meaningful differentiator: advisors don't have to sacrifice platform to gain independence, or sacrifice independence to gain platform.
Add leading-edge technology and client delivery infrastructure, and you have a firm that has answered the two questions every serious advisor asks: Can I do right by my clients here? And: Can I build real wealth for myself and my team?
The answer, increasingly, is yes, and the market is reflecting it.
The Competitive Landscape Is Narrowing
That's not to say Wells Fargo is the only game in town. Morgan Stanley captured five of the last 25 moves, including the Rowling Group out of Merrill Lynch ($10M / $4.5B) and the high-profile T6 Wealth Management (Ari Spar) move from Stifel ($15M / $12B).
Rockefeller continues to attract teams seeking a more boutique, equity-driven story, picking up two moves including Carrier Group's Josef Najar ($17M / $3.6B) out of Morgan Stanley.
But the raw volume tells the story. Morgan Stanley took five but also lost five. Wells Fargo took fifteen and lost none.
What This Means for Teams Considering a Move
For large teams, particularly those with $10M or more in production, the current recruiting environment is arguably the most favorable in history. Valuations have grown substantially. Guarantees are real. Equity participation and internal/external private equity access are increasingly part of the conversation.
The question for any team is no longer whether the economics justify a move. The question is which platform best positions you to serve clients, grow assets, and build a business that reflects the franchise you've already built.
For more than half the market right now, that answer is Wells Fargo.