Banks Raise Fees, Push Mass‑Affluent Clients to RIAs

Banks are raising fees and increasing asset minimums for certain services while routing lower‑balance prospects to centralized, call‑center‑style offices. Those changes have contributed to a stream of advisors leaving bank wealth units for independent registered investment advisers that continue to serve mass‑affluent households.

Justin Duke, who spent 11 years at BNY Wealth, said fee increases at the bank effectively priced many clients out of its trust and estate services and that clients with fewer investible assets were steered to remote offices. He left for Simon Quick Advisors in Dallas, where he is a managing director and client advisor.

Industry data show a wider shift away from banks and wirehouses. Research firm Cerulli Associates reported RIAs managed 27% of industry assets in 2024, up from 21% a decade earlier. Data from ISS Market Intelligence indicates retail‑focused RIAs added 9,525 representatives registered with FINRA from 2021 through 2025, while banks lost 2,121 registered reps in the same period.

Will Trout, director of securities and investments at Datos Insights, described the pattern as a clear message to advisors that lower‑balance clients no longer fit the banks’ priorities, calling the repricing trend an “exit signal” for advisors who built books in the mass‑affluent space.

Simon Quick Advisors, based in Morristown, New Jersey, manages about $10 billion, employs 91 people including 28 certified financial planners and seven CPAs, and operates offices in New York, Denver and Chattanooga. The firm is privately held and employee owned, and it says that structure gives it more flexibility to accept clients whose balances may grow over time or provide planning and referral opportunities.

Chris Moore, managing partner at Simon Quick, said the firm does not require incoming advisors to move a set percentage of their prior books. New advisors can work with clients they bring, receive referrals from the firm’s organic channels, or build relationships independently. Moore also described the firm’s fee model as focused on ongoing advisory arrangements rather than one‑off commission sales, which he said can allow advisors to accept clients who may not meet high commission thresholds but offer long‑term planning potential.

Simon Quick has expanded by recruiting and by acquisitions. Last year it acquired Proquility, an RIA with nearly $400 million under management. Moore said the firm funds deals mainly through operating cash flow and debt rather than private equity and aims to double in size every five years while remaining employee owned.

Advisors who leave banks cite several factors in addition to higher client fees and minimums. They point to limited ownership rights over client books at banks and legal or contractual barriers that can make it difficult to move client relationships. Simon Quick has recruited advisors from firms including Merrill, Northern Trust and BNY by offering fewer constraints on client selection and a planning‑focused service model.

The firm is opening a Dallas office and currently has six employees in the region, targeting local entrepreneurs and households planning intergenerational wealth transfers. For advisors serving mass‑affluent clients, some RIAs offer a path to continue those relationships outside bank structures that are concentrating services on wealthier clients.