Top independents report up to 25% women advisors

A 2026 industry study of independent brokerages ranked firms by the percentage of women among their financial advisors. Firms near the top include LaSalle St. Securities, Kovack Financial Network, Independent Financial Group, J.W. Cole Financial, Osaic and Centaurus Financial. The rankings use each firm’s self-reported percentage of female advisors as of year-end 2025.

The study covers 37 participating companies; 19 provided no data on female advisor counts. Several reporting firms indicated roughly 25% of their advisors are women. Rankings are based on each firm’s rounded percentage of financial advisors who are women.

The measure counted “producing registered representatives”—advisors who use the firm as their brokerage or RIA. The term “registered representative” can include a broader set of licensed professionals. The rankings reflect raw percentages and do not measure roles, production or leadership held by women at those firms.

Industry specialists identified two trends shaping the numbers: growing numbers of women entering the profession and launching registered investment advisory firms, and continued underrepresentation tied to long-standing male-dominated professional networks.

Vanessa Martinez, CEO and founder of Chicago-based RIA Expressive Wealth and co-founder of the SER Summit for Latinos in Financial Services, observed: “I will say that there are very intentional groups that are doing specific recruiting just for women in the industry, and a lot of [them] have focused just on career changers, which I think is phenomenal for our industry.” She also noted that some women receive messages that channel them into compliance, marketing or client service rather than advisory roles.

The study relies on firms’ internal reporting, so missing disclosures and varied counting methods affect comparability. Nearly half of participating companies did not report counts of female advisors.

Background material for the study points to legacy firm cultures and concentrated professional networks that have limited women’s advancement in wealth management. The study also notes increased entrepreneurship by women and an ongoing transfer of wealth as factors that could influence advisor demographics over time.