News · Recruiting
Could Ameriprise Go Ex-Protocol?
Rumors are circulating that another large wealth management firm might exit the Protocol for Broker Recruiting. One name: Ameriprise Financial.
By David Roux
March 17, 2026
5 min read
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AMP--UBS--
Transition:AmeripriseUBS
It has been nine years since major brokerage firms including UBS and Morgan Stanley left the Protocol for Broker Recruiting.
Rumors are circulating that another large wealth management firm might exit the agreement. One name that has surfaced in those conversations is Ameriprise Financial.
Whether or not Ameriprise ultimately decides to leave the protocol, the speculation raises a broader question: would it meaningfully change advisor recruiting dynamics if the firm did?
To answer that, it helps to revisit the terms of the Protocol and examine how the 2017 wirehouse exits affected advisor movement.
The Protocol for Broker Recruiting was created in 2004 by a group of major wirehouses seeking to reduce the escalating legal battles that had accompanied advisor movement for years. Under the agreement, advisors moving between participating firms can take a limited set of client information without facing litigation from their former employer.
That information typically includes: Client names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and account titles. Advisors cannot take more sensitive information such as account numbers, social security numbers or account statements.
Those departures in 2017 sparked widespread speculation that the recruiting environment would fundamentally change. But in practice, the industry adapted more quickly than many expected. Firms were given more leeway to file lawsuits but in reality did not want to return to the costly pre-Protocol days of widespread litigation.
If Ameriprise were to leave the protocol, it would likely add another wrinkle to the recruiting landscape. But based on what has happened with the wirehouses that exited before it, the broader flow of advisors across the industry would probably continue much as it always has.
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