About this data
This analysis shows only publicly disclosed advisor and team transitions and focuses on teams managing $500M or more in client assets, our core consulting market. Sources include AdvisorHub, Barron’s, InvestmentNews, Financial Planning, WealthManagement.com, and other trade publications, press-release wires, and firm announcements. It is not a complete record of UBS departures: many moves are never publicly reported, and several firms do not disclose the advisors and teams they hire, so their gains are understated throughout. Actual advisor movement is higher than these figures capture. Data reflects publicly reported moves through June 30, 2026.
Executive summary
70
$500M+ teams departed since 2024
~$98B
Client assets in motion at the elite tier
+157%
YoY surge in UBS departures, 2024 → 2025
50%
Of $500M+ teams went wirehouse-to-wirehouse
Five things to know if you are a UBS advisor evaluating your options:
- 01
Departures have stepped up at the top of the book. UBS saw 14 teams managing $500M+ depart in 2024 and 36 in 2025, with another 20 in the first half of 2026, a clear upward trend at the elite tier. Recent examples include the $2.4B Zelniker Dorfman team’s June move to Steward Partners and AGT Private Wealth’s $1.6B move to Wells Fargo in May.
- 02
UBS stands apart from its peers. The same upward trend is not playing out at the other wirehouses. Over 2024–2025, $500M+ departures at Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley moved lower, while UBS’s moved in the opposite direction (see Figure 2), a divergence that is difficult to attribute to industry-wide forces and points to something specific to UBS.
- 03
The assets in motion are considerable. These 70 teams represent roughly $98 billion in combined client assets. The single largest is the $6.3B Hingham Street Partners team to Wells Fargo; the largest independent breakaway is a $6 billion move to a self-launched RIA (71 West, December 2025).
- 04
Where elite teams went is more diverse than the wirehouse-versus-wirehouse narrative suggests. Among $500M+ teams, 50% went to another wirehouse, 21% to a regional/boutique W-2 firm, 19% to an independent/RIA platform, and 10% to an IBD/hybrid model. Put simply, 71% chose a W-2 model and 29% went the independent/1099 route. RBC and Wells Fargo each landed ten $500M+ UBS teams; Wells Fargo has captured roughly $15.8B in client assets (about $20B including its FiNet independent channel).
- 05
Deal economics are favorable. Standard W-2 transition packages now exceed 300% of trailing twelve, with elite Forbes/Barron’s teams in the 350%–430% range. Most firms will offset ALFA and deferred-comp forfeitures in the upfront economics. The current cycle is one of the strongest recruiting environments in a decade.
The full paper covers what is driving the moves, where advisors are landing, how portable a UBS book actually is, an honest comparison of ALFA vs. transitioning, and a complete roster of every $500M+ UBS team that has moved since January 2024.
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