Commonwealth Equity Services, LLC dba-Commonwealth Financial Network
Clearing firm: National Financial Services LLC, Pershing LLC
No. advisers: 2,397
AUM: $200,660,000,000
Year founded: 1979
Year end: Dec 31
No. of retail offices: 1,422
Company Overview
Commonwealth has the highest gross revenue per advisor among RIA-independent b/ds, as reported by Financial Advisor in April 2018. Discover how the nation's largest privately held Registered Investment Adviser–independent broker/dealer that's held true to its founding mission for almost 40 years can help you and your clients thrive.
In their own words: Commonwealth advisors speak
We invite you to take two minutes to hear a few of our advisors talk about their experience at Commonwealth. Then contact us to discover for yourself a community of peers that's unlike any you've experienced and the virtually unlimited opportunities available to help you serve your clients your way.
Additional Resources
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. of reps | 2,476 | 2,422 | 2,258 |
| No. of reps, male | 1,998 | 1,963 | 1,781 |
| No. of reps, female | 478 | 459 | 477 |
| No. of producing reps | 2,012 | 2,007 | 1,885 |
| No. of producing reps, male | 1,698 | 1,627 | 1,546 |
| No. of producing reps, female | 314 | 380 | 339 |
| No. of reps producing $100K-$499K /year | 897 | 948 | 914 |
| No. of reps producing $500K+ /year | 977 | 905 | 850 |
| No. of CFPs | 1,046 | 1,000 | 961 |
| No. of full-time employees | 863 | 777 | 913 |
| No. of fee-based advisers served | 2,467 | 2,350 | 2,247 |
| Average payout per rep, per year | $629,000 | $589,471 | $556,973 |
| Avg. annual production of top 20% reps | $1,600,000 | $1,483,334 | $1,428,928 |
| Total payout, per year | $1,264,825,512 | $1,147,109,613 | $1,049,893,960 |
| Cost of E&O insurance per rep, per year | $2450 | $2,450 | $2450 |
| Affiliation fees charged per rep, per year | None | None | None |
| Affiliation fee coverage | — | N/A | No affiliation fees |
| $0-$249,999 | $250K-$499,999 | $500K-$749,999 | $750K-$999,999 | $1,000,000+ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mutual funds | 50%-87% | 87% | 88% | 89% | 90%-95% |
| Insurance | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Variable annuities | 50%-87% | 87% | 88% | 89% | 90%-95% |
| Limited parterships | 50%-87% | 87% | 88% | 89% | 90%-95% |
| Securities | 50%-87% | 87% | 88% | 89% | 90%-95% |
| Required minimum production | $200,000 | ||||
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total revenues | $1,635,006,455 | $1,552,748,751 | $1,425,306,063 |
| Commission revenues | $247,092,746 | $252,020,458 | $234,491,205 |
| Securities revenues | $16,518,394 | $12,278,040 | $13,694,251 |
| Securities revenues: Stocks | $8,873,742 | $6,042,374 | $7,095,108 |
| Securities revenues: Bonds | $2,195,065 | $2,760,545 | $2,975,672 |
| Securities revenues: ETFs | $4,620,546 | $2,849,587 | $3,024,567 |
| Securities revenues: Other | $829,041 | $625,534 | $598,904 |
| Mutual fund revenues | $79,199,127 | $85,858,049 | $71,787,270 |
| Annuities revenues | $120,803,811 | $121,298,148 | $118,864,852 |
| Annuities revenues: Fixed | $4,505,084 | $5,974,799 | $5,268,937 |
| Annuities revenues: Variable | $116,298,727 | $115,323,349 | $113,595,915 |
| Annuities revenues: Other | — | — | — |
| Insurance revenue | $20,475,413 | $20,598,233 | $19,977,318 |
| Insurance revenues: Life | $14,863,367 | $15,201,836 | $16,014,632 |
| Insurance revenues: Disabilities | $621,490 | $634,848 | $589,087 |
| Insurance revenues: LTC | $4,990,556 | $4,761,549 | $3,371,633 |
| Insurance revenues: Other | — | — | — |
| Alternative revenues | $10,096,001 | $11,987,988 | $10,169,480 |
| Alternative revenues: Hedge funds | — | — | — |
| Alternative revenues: Managed futures | — | — | — |
| Alternative revenues: Private placements | — | — | — |
| Alternative revenues: REITs | $5,107,497 | $5,584,715 | $4,926,596 |
| Alternative revenues: Other | $4,988,504 | $6,403,273 | $5,242,884 |
| Other commission revenues | — | — | — |
| Fee revenues | $1,187,606,820 | $1,052,748,961 | $976,195,820 |
| Fee revenues: Rep-managed accounts | $1,035,482,348 | $917,090,658 | $849,182,129 |
| Fee revenues: Firm-managed accounts | $103,733,311 | $95,342,297 | $88,421,037 |
| Fee revenues: Outside-managed accounts | $48,391,161 | $40,316,006 | $38,592,654 |
| Fee revenues: Other | — | — | — |
| Total revenues: Other | $200,306,889 | $247,979,332 | $214,619,038 |
| 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total account assets | $232,460,000,000 | $200,660,000,000 | $161,100,000,000 |
| Fee-based assets | $136,500,000,000 | $114,240,000,000 | $85,220,000,000 |
| Fee-based assets: Clearing firm | $136,500,000,000 | $114,240,000,000 | $85,220,000,000 |
| Fee-based assets: Advisory firm platforms | — | — | — |
| Fee-based assets: Third-party money managers | — | — | — |
| Fee-based assets: Other | — | — | — |
| Total account assets: Other | $95,960,000,000 | $86,420,000,000 | $75,880,000,000 |
| Average assets per rep | $93,885,299 | $82,848,885 | $71,346,324 |
| Social Media & Mobile | |||
| Allows advisers to use social media | Y | ||
| Social media sites allowed | Facebook | ||
| Dedicated mobile application for advisers? | Y | ||
| Primary purpose of mobile application | Mobile Check Deposit Trading Portfolio/Performance Workflow/Alerts Business Analytics Compensation | ||
| Software Offered | |||
| Account aggregation software | Quovo Built in house/Proprietary |
||
| Compliance software | Built in house/Proprietary | ||
| CRM | Built in house/Proprietary | ||
| Document management | Built in house/Proprietary | ||
| Financial planning | eMoney360 (eMoney Advisor) MoneyGuidePro (PIEtech Inc.) Morningstar Advisor Workstation (Morningstar Inc.) NaviPro Planning Suite (Advicent, formerly Zywave) Silver Financial Planner/Silver Online (Money Tree Software Inc.) Built in-house/Proprietary RightCapital |
||
| Portfolio management | Built in house/Proprietary | ||
| Portfolio rebalancing | Built in house/Proprietary | ||
| Robo-advice | |||
| Offers robo-advisory platform? | N | ||
| If not, when plans to offer a robo-platform | 6-12 months | ||
| Robo-advice services offered | — | ||
| How robo-platform developed | In-house | ||
| Charge for robo-advisory services? | N | ||
- Notes
- N/A = Not available
- N/D = Not disclosed
- — = Information not available or not disclosed
All 2011-2016 recruitment and staffing data is as of Dec. 31 in the calendar year displayed. Prior year recruitment and staffing data is as of Sept. 30. All financial figures are for firms' year end, unless noted.
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