Commonwealth Financial Network this week announced the results of its 2023 recruiting effort, revealing that it onboarded some 292 advisors to both new and existing practices across the country during the year.
These advisors were accompanied by a total of $15.9 billion in client assets, an increase of nearly 42% compared to 2022's previous record recruiting year. In a new interview with ThinkAdvisor, Becca Hajjar, managing principal and chief business development officer at Commonwealth, said the fight was already on to achieve yet another record in 2024.
"Of course we want to three-peat," she joked. "I believe we can get there."
Fee-Based Business Leads Way
As Hajjar emphasized, the average assets of advisors who joined affiliated firms increased nearly 34% in 2023, representing strong growth across Commonwealth's community of independent businesses and an increased interest in supporting advisors who choose to join existing firms. Specifically, Hajjar pointed out, advisors who joined existing practices were responsible for close to $820 million of the overall recruited assets.
The firm saw continued momentum from advisors seeking to join from registered investment advisors, independent broker-dealers, regionals and wirehouses. At the end of 2023, Commonwealth supported nearly 2,200 affiliated advisors nationwide, overseeing more than $296 billion in client assets.
"Once again, most assets recruited last year were fee-based, a direct result of the transformation unfolding across the industry," Hajjar said. "Another interesting and related fact is that, of the advisors who joined us in 2023, there was an 18% increase in the prevalence of CFPs."
In a statement about the results, Commonwealth CEO Wayne Bloom said he sees the firm's future as being "particularly bright."
