Clients, and their advisors, hesitate to make changes during volatile market times.

But some firms are ploughing through, nonetheless.  According to AdvisorHub, Stifel Financial's Global Wealth division hired 13 experienced advisors in the first quarter, despite the recruiting challenges created by market volatility.  

CEO Ron Kruszewski told analysts, "Although market volatility was a bit of a headwind in terms of overall recruiting, we continue to see extremely strong interest in our platform, and we anticipate increased conditions as the year goes on."

Likewise, Ameriprise Financial added 80 experienced advisors in the quarter, albeit down from 93 in the year-ago quarter. CEO James Cracchiolo said that the firm saw a slower start to the year based on "some of the market volatility that occurred in January." 

Despite recruiting challenges, Stifel's Global Wealth business reported revenue of $682 million. Ameriprise's Advice & Wealth Management unit's first-quarter revenue increased 9 percent from the year-earlier quarter to $2 billion, while pretax profit rose 13 percent to $440 million over the same period.

Financial Advisor Transitions consults advisors nationwide to explore employment transition options and to preserve and protect their practice in any transition that they make.