What Boomers’ Retirement Means for the Advisor Industry
July 18, 2017 By Jon Henschen, published on WealthManagement.com Our industry will be unable to keep up with the demand for new advisors to fill the vacancies left by boomers retiring. The number of financial advisors (RIAs) peaked in 2008 at 325,000. By 2014, that number dropped to 285,000 (Cerulli Associates). The number of FINRA registered representatives is currently at 633,822 (April 2017), which is down from 643,433 in 2015. This reflects only the beginning of boomer retirement trends. Public accounting firm Moss Adams has forecast a shortfall of 200,000 advisors by 2022, with boomer retirement continuing through 2030. This will only compound the shortfall of advisors. The average age of advisers today is over 50, and 41 percent of advisors are 55 or older according to Cerulli. The industry has responded with...