The wealth management industry has a talent problem — and it is not the one most people talk about.

The typical conversation focuses on recruiting: how to attract experienced advisors away from wirehouses, how to compete with PE-backed firms offering bigger signing bonuses, how to fill seats fast enough to keep up with growth targets.

But the firms building the most durable practices are asking a different question. Not "how do we find great advisors?" but "how do we build them?"

Eric Kittner, CEO and Chairman of the Board at Moneta Group, has made next-generation advisor development a core strategic priority. In a recent episode of the Next Mile podcast, he explained why Moneta invests years in developing junior advisors rather than depending on the lateral recruiting market — and why he believes this approach produces better outcomes for clients, advisors, and the firm.

The recruiting treadmill

There is nothing wrong with recruiting experienced advisors. Every firm does it. But a talent strategy built primarily on recruitment has structural vulnerabilities that compound over time.

Cost escalation. As more firms compete for the same experienced advisors, the price of talent goes up. Signing bonuses, guaranteed compensation, equity grants — the cost of bringing someone in the door keeps rising. And every competitor is doing the same math.

Cultural risk. An advisor who spent 15 years at another firm brings their habits, their expectations, and their way of doing things. Sometimes that is additive. Sometimes it creates friction that takes years to resolve — or never resolves at all.

Retention uncertainty. If you recruited an advisor by offering them a better deal than their current firm, what happens when someone offers them a better deal than yours? Loyalty built on economics is loyalty that can be outbid.

Client disruption. When a firm hires an experienced advisor, the assumption is that clients will follow. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they do not. And even when they do, the transition creates uncertainty that clients feel.

None of this means recruitment should stop. But firms that rely on recruitment as their primary talent engine are on a treadmill — always running, never building something that compounds.

The development alternative

Moneta's approach flips the model. Instead of buying talent, they build it.

"We're not just recruiting; we're developing talent over time," Kittner said. "Mentorship plays a key role here. We invest in our next-generation advisors, providing them with the tools and experiences they need to succeed."

This is a fundamentally different investment thesis. Rather than paying a premium for fully-formed advisors, Moneta invests in people early — bringing in smart, motivated professionals and giving them a multi-year development path that transforms them into the kind of advisors who can lead complex client relationships.

What the development path looks like

While every firm will structure its development program differently, the firms doing this well share several common elements:

Structured mentorship. Junior advisors are paired with experienced mentors — not just assigned to a team, but given a specific relationship with a senior advisor whose job includes teaching, coaching, and modeling. The mentor is accountable for the mentee's growth.

Graduated client exposure. New advisors do not start by running their own book. They observe client meetings. Then they participate. Then they lead portions. Then they lead the meeting with oversight. Then they lead independently. Each step builds confidence and competence.

Cross-functional training. The quarterback model that Moneta uses requires advisors who understand tax, investments, estate planning, and beyond. Development programs that expose junior advisors to each specialty — through rotations, shadowing, or collaborative projects — build the breadth of knowledge that great client advisors need.

Deliberate culture immersion. This is where in-office presence matters most. Junior advisors absorb the firm's standards, communication style, and decision-making patterns by being physically present. They learn how to handle a difficult client conversation by watching a senior advisor handle one in real time — something no training module can replicate.

Progressive responsibility. The best development programs give junior advisors real responsibility early — not busy work, but work that matters. Preparing client review materials. Running analysis for a planning case. Drafting recommendations for a mentor to review. Each assignment stretches the advisor's capabilities while keeping quality controls in place.

Why development produces better advisors

Advisors who grow up inside a firm develop capabilities that lateral hires often lack:

Deep institutional knowledge. They understand the firm's systems, processes, and decision-making frameworks from the inside out. They do not need six months to get up to speed — they have been learning for years.

Client relationship continuity. A developed advisor can be introduced to clients years before they take over a relationship. The transition happens gradually, naturally, and without disruption. Compare this to the abrupt handoff that happens when a senior advisor leaves and a new hire steps in.

Cultural fluency. Homegrown advisors embody the firm's culture because they were shaped by it. They do not need to unlearn habits from a previous firm. Their instincts — how they communicate, how they prioritize, how they handle mistakes — reflect the firm's values.

Loyalty that is not transactional. An advisor who was invested in — who was given a path, a mentor, and a chance to grow — has a relationship with the firm that goes beyond compensation. This does not make them immune to recruiters, but it changes the calculation.

The economics of development vs. recruitment

The common objection to development programs is cost. It takes three to five years to develop a junior advisor into someone who can independently manage client relationships. During that time, the firm is paying a salary without getting the same revenue contribution an experienced hire would provide.

This is true. But the math changes when you factor in the full picture:

The firms that invest in development are not spending more — they are spending differently. And the return on that investment compounds over a career, not just a recruiting cycle.

The role of technology in advisor development

Technology plays an underappreciated role in how quickly and effectively junior advisors develop.

When a firm has connected data infrastructure — a unified view of clients, automated reporting, streamlined workflows — junior advisors can focus on learning the advisory craft instead of learning how to wrangle data from five different systems. They can prepare for client meetings faster, spot planning opportunities more easily, and contribute meaningfully from an earlier stage.

Conversely, firms with fragmented technology make the development path longer and more frustrating. Junior advisors spend their first years learning the idiosyncrasies of disconnected systems rather than developing advisory skills. The technology becomes a bottleneck to talent development.

This is another reason why data infrastructure matters beyond operational efficiency. It directly impacts how fast a firm can develop its people — and in an industry facing a talent shortage, speed of development is a strategic advantage.

Building a development pipeline

For firm leaders considering a shift toward development-first talent strategy, here is a practical starting point:

1. Define the advisor you want to build. What capabilities should a fully developed advisor have? What does "ready" look like? Work backward from that definition to design the development path.

2. Identify your mentors. Not every experienced advisor is a good mentor. Look for people who enjoy teaching, who can articulate what they do and why, and who are willing to invest time in someone else's growth.

3. Create structured milestones. Development should not be open-ended. Define what the junior advisor should be able to do at 12 months, 24 months, 36 months. Make progression visible and measurable.

4. Give real responsibility early. People learn by doing. Find ways to give junior advisors meaningful work — with appropriate supervision — from day one.

5. Invest in the infrastructure. Make sure your technology, processes, and reporting tools are good enough that new advisors can focus on learning the business, not fighting the systems.

6. Be patient. Development takes years. The payoff is not immediate. But the advisors who emerge from a well-designed program are worth the wait.

The long game

The wealth management industry is aging. The average advisor is in their mid-50s. The wave of retirements over the next decade will create both a talent crisis and a client transition challenge that the industry has never faced at this scale.

Firms that have invested in developing the next generation will navigate this transition from a position of strength — with trained advisors ready to step into leadership, with client relationships that have been gradually transitioned, and with a culture that reproduces itself.

Firms that have not will be scrambling to recruit, competing for a shrinking pool of experienced advisors, and managing client anxiety about who will take care of them next.

The best time to start building your development pipeline was five years ago. The second best time is now.

This article is based on a conversation between Kyle Van Pelt and Eric Kittner on the Next Mile podcast. Listen to the full episode: "How Moneta Group Builds Scale, Culture, and Connection Without Losing the Human Touch."

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