Whichever Morgan Stanley employee that came up with the idea that exiting the broker protocol would somehow lead to an uptick in retaining the firms largest and most profitable advisors needs to be fired. It’s not working.

Via AdvisorHub, the Houston based Morgan Stanley team departed a few days ago:

“In Houston on Friday, a seven-broker team led by Jason Fertitta hung up a shingle for their new registered investment advisory firm Americana Partners. The team—which also includes Ben Athens, Billy Busch, Sheldon Busch, Josh Caltrider, Johnathan Schnitzer and Robert Wellington, had been overseeing $6 billion in client assets, according to Dynasty Financial Partners, the platform coordinator and financing firm that facilitated the move.”

“The Fertitta team produced $10.8 million in fees and commissions over the past 12 months, said a person familiar with their practice.”

The commentary in subsequent press coverage has Fertitta talking about the need to offer clients broader choice of products and services, even ‘coinvestments’ at their new platform and freshly created RIA.

Maybe that’s the reason there are rumors of each wire brand looking to expand into the independent space via different channels.

Something has to be done to stop the bleeding or else each legacy wealth brand will continue to shrink via headcount – and should a bear market come calling, revenue and profits will be severely and adversely affected.

It should be noted that this is the largest move this year and one of the largest wire to RIA moves in the history of the industry. Remarkable win for Dynasty, and by extension, eye opening loss for Morgan Stanley.