Recruiters report intense recruiting wars.  In that environment, experienced advisors have the opportunity to consider multiple offers and to engage in "horse-trading" to try to increase the value of the signing deals.

Since last year, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and Ameriprise Financial have offered deals above 300 percent of advisors' twelve months of production.  According to Advisorhub, the offers include upfront bonuses of between 150 percent to 175 percent and back-end targets.

Danny Sarch, a recruiter, reports thatfirms may shell out more for a book of business with customers who rank younger or have higher average balances per household. Firms generally evaluate an advisor's prior rate of revenue growth and future plans to increase revenue. Preference also is given to advisors who express their investment philosophy in a way that conveys a "thoughtful methodology," according to Sarch. 

Additionally, recruiters suggest that advisors evaluate what they seek to fix with a transition and then to make sure they are not just running from a problem or into a dead end. 

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