Welcome to our annual analysis of base pay for advisors at wirehouses and regional or national broker-dealers, starting with a look at $400,000 annual producers in 2025.
Scroll down to see where the participating firms stack up.
For last year's data,
This is the first installment in our annual four-part survey. Check back for pay comparisons at other production levels.
The information was collected by Financial Planning and then analyzed by compensation consultant Andrew Tasnady of
A note about this year's analysis: A number of firms' special pay policies were not taken into account because they do not fall on all advisors at a given firm evenly and thus vary too much to compare. Individual results can vary greatly based on the mix of business and policies at each firm.
For example, advisors' pay can be pushed upward by special bonuses or downward by penalties such as discount sharing, small client limits and ticket charges.
Here are the assumptions we made for base pay (before special policies and contingent bonuses):
- 25% in individual stocks; 25% in individual bonds; 25% in mutual funds; 25% in fee-based (wrap accounts, managed accounts, etc.).
- Year-end basic bonuses are shown in deferred totals. ("Deferred-YE").
- Length of service is assumed to be 10 years.
- Assumes no effects from bonuses based on growth, asset-based bonuses or other behavior-based awards.
- Excludes voluntary deferral matches, 401(k) matches or profit-sharing contributions, unless otherwise noted.
- Does not include: T&E expense allowance, discount sharing or ticket charge expense assumptions, small household or small ticket policy assumptions, or value of any options awards.
*All of the information was provided by the companies featured and compiled by Financial Planning, with analysis by Tasnady & Associates. Data from Edward Jones reflect average data, and individual advisors' experiences may vary.
