Practice Management Insights from the Kehrer Group Benchmarking Surveys
The most effective way to grow the wealth management business in a financial institution is to add financial advisors. In fact, past Kehrer Group research has demonstrated that adding advisors in a bank or credit union increases investment services revenue by more than the production of the new advisor. Adding advisors increases revenue exponentially because the principal ways that firms add advisors are to make room for the new advisors by:
- Reducing the size of branch territory assignments, or
- Moving advisors out of the branches to standalone offices or into other business units.
These moves have proven to make the existing advisors more efficient and productive.
Despite the evidence, profit margin-conscious financial institutions remained hesitant to add to headcount, and the choice to focus on cost control rather than growth for the investment services business wrought a decade-long stagnation in the number of advisors working in banks and credit unions.
But banks and credit unions have enjoyed some success at making net additions to advisor headcount in recent years. Advisor headcount increased 9.7% in 2025, after growing 3.2% the year before in the typical financial institution.
Advisor headcount growth was concentrated in credit unions. Large bank practices increased the pace of their hiring last year, while the pace of headcount acquisition slowed in smaller banks.
Despite the progress made toward growing the advisor force, advisor coverage of deposits worsened in financial institutions. The typical financial institution-based advisor covered nearly $650 million in deposits at the end of 2025, 13.7% thinner coverage than the year before.
Advisor coverage of deposits thinned across all three of the cohorts we track through the annual benchmarking survey, with deposits per advisor increasing 1.3% in large bank practices, 11.9% in credit unions, and 24.9% in small bank practices.
Another measure of advisor coverage in a financial institution is the number of bank customer households or credit union member households covered by each of the institution’s advisors. Using customer households as the yardstick, the picture looks even more challenging.
The typical advisor in a bank or credit union had 15,359 households in their territory at the end of 2025, an increase of 21.2% compared to one year before. Credit unions, where advisor headcount increased by more than 10%, saw advisor coverage of member households move in the opposite direction, thinning by 10.4%. Credit unions are adding advisors, but they are adding members at a much faster pace, challenging the ability of the investment services unit to keep up with the size of the opportunity.
Banks face a similar conundrum, albeit to a lesser extent.
In all, advisor deposit coverage remains far below the optimal range of $150-$250 million, despite recent progress toward growing the advisor force, and financial institutions now face serious headwinds to develop and retain the talent they added. Banks and credit unions need an option that gives their customers access to quality advisors without the overhead and headaches of building and maintaining their own advisor force.
“Kehrer’s research highlights a growing disconnect between advisor capacity and client opportunity within banks and credit unions. While institutions continue to add advisors, household and deposit growth are outpacing headcount expansion, creating coverage gaps and limiting growth potential. As households per advisor reach increasingly unsustainable levels, institutions risk missed opportunities and lower client engagement.
Merit helps bridge that gap through a scalable partnership model that provides immediate access to experienced advisor resources without the fixed costs and operational challenges of expanding an internal advisor force. By supplementing advisor coverage with external resources, banks and credit unions can expand wealth management penetration, enhance client service, and capture more opportunity while preserving margins and profitability.”
Jonathan Pitzen
VP of Strategic Partnerships
Merit Financial Advisors
About the Kehrer Group Annual Benchmarking Survey
Kehrer Group has been benchmarking the investment services business in financial institutions since the early 1990s. This Highlighter draws on data* from the 2025-2026 Kehrer Group Benchmarking Survey, encompassing 127 banks and credit unions which collectively manage $471 billion in assets under administration and deploy 4,072 financial advisors.
*Survey data reflects participating institutions and may not be representative of all banks or credit unions. “Typical financial institution” and other statistical measures are defined according to Kehrer Group’s survey methodology. Past industry trends may not continue.
About Kehrer Group Highlighters
The Kehrer Group Highlighters package some of our most important findings, insights, and commentary into bite-size, digestible articles. We make the Highlighters available for free to the entire financial advice community—a small gesture of appreciation for a community that has done so much to support our work.
About Merit Financial Advisors
Merit Financial Advisors (“Merit”) is a national wealth management firm that partners with banks, credit unions, and other trusted advisors to help deepen client relationships, expand wealth management capabilities, and serve the evolving needs of their clients. Through comprehensive financial planning, investment management, tax-aware wealth strategies, estate planning coordination, and specialized expertise, Merit helps partners deliver additional value to their clients while preserving the trusted relationships they have built. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, Merit has more than 70 offices across the United States and manages approximately $32.92 billion in assets as of September 12, 2026. For more information, visit discover.meritfa.com/bank-partnership. Investment advice offered through Merit Financial Group, LLC, an SEC-registered investment adviser.
About Kehrer Group
Kehrer Group is the bank and credit union financial advice community’s trusted partner for original thought leadership, insight based on data, and strategies that drive success. Kehrer Group’s legacy of research and analysis has advanced the delivery of investment services in banks and credit unions and shaped the industry into what it is today. Kehrer Group’s principals meld the wisdom gained from its long history in the industry with cutting-edge analytics, data that is robust and diverse, and a deep understanding of the key drivers of performance.
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