Commonwealth, Stifel, Raymond James top advisor satisfaction rankings; Wells Fargo Advisors' score jumps by triple digits

Fewer independent financial advisors than last year agree with their firms' direction and employee brokers are now giving their brokerages higher average grades, a new study found. 

Independent wealth management firm Commonwealth Financial Network retained its perennial position atop research and consulting firm J.D. Power's U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction Study, but the rankings outlined in the slideshow below display how firms like Stifel, Raymond James & Associates, Edward Jones and, this year, Wells Fargo Advisors, also get high marks. Interestingly, Wells Fargo's independent channel, the Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, came in last place at a distant 14th in this year's rankings. However, the advisor satisfaction score for the megabank's employee brokerage shot up by 156 points year-over-year.

In all, employee brokers boosted their channel's average grade by 49 points compared to 2023, while independent advisors pushed down the mean for their classification by 15 points. Firms in all channels face retention risks. At least 34% of employee brokers and 41% of independent advisors who are two years or more from retirement say they could leave their firm in the next 12 to 24 months. An aging advisor base, continuing consolidation in M&A deals and shrinking organic growth are causing advisory teams to consider switching firms, J.D. Power said.

"Several forces are currently at play that pose challenges to the loyalties of even the most entrenched advisors," Craig Martin, J.D. Power's head of wealth and lending intelligence, said in a statement. "Aggressive compensation offers, a promise of better technology or support and flexible business models can all tempt advisors to change firms. However, the cultural fit and advisor confidence in leadership are what determine how susceptible they are to attempts to lure them away."

Grades about firms' leadership and culture represented the biggest drivers of differences in satisfaction among advisors who say they plan to stay with their brokerage over those thinking about a switch. 

Only 46% of independent advisors told J.D. Power they "strongly agree" that their firm is moving in the correct direction — which is down 8% from 2023. The key factors fueling the ascending grades for employee brokerages stem from higher marks for pay metrics, technology and service quality, according to the research and consulting firm. Independent firms traditionally rake in higher grades than employee brokerages, but that trend has reversed this year amid the shifting nature of advisor independence in the industry.

Since recruiting remains the lifeblood of wealth management, firms always pay attention to their scores in J.D. Power's survey and others tracking advisors' perceptions. Among those who told J.D. Power in 2021 that they "definitely will not" or "probably will not" be at the same firm in one to two years, about half were no longer there in 2024. And roughly nine in 10 who pledged they "definitely" would stay with their firm three years ago are still there.

Scroll down the slideshow below to see which firms came in at the top and bottom of J.D. Power's advisor satisfaction rankings in 2024.

For results from prior years, see our slideshows from 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018 and 2017. To see J.D. Power's latest annual study ranking firms across the industry for full-service investor satisfaction, click here.

Note: The J.D. Power U.S. Financial Advisor Satisfaction Study measures the responses of 4,072 employee and independent advisors between January and May. For each firm with at least 100 participating advisors, the research consultant releases a satisfaction index score on a 1,000-point scale based on six factors: "compensation; firm leadership and culture; operational support; products and marketing; professional development; and technology."