Advisor payout models,
side by side.
What you actually take home depends less on your gross production and more on which side of the org chart you sit on. Here is how the four common payout structures compare, and where AFS fits.
The four payout models most advisors choose between.
Headline payout percentages, with the trade-offs each one quietly carries.
- 01Wirehouse 40–45%
- 02Independent broker-dealer ~83%
- 03Corporate / platform RIA ~75%
- 04AFS independent (90/10) 90%
Wirehouse compensation structure.
Wirehouses pay a grid: a percentage of your trailing-twelve production, scaled by tier, often with deferred comp clawbacks and growth haircuts.
How the math actually works
- Headline grid: typically 40–45% of gross production for most advisors, with deferred comp layered on top.
- Haircuts: small-household penalties, low-revenue account penalties, and grid resets that punish a soft year.
- Deferred comp: a meaningful portion vests over 5–10 years and is forfeited if you leave.
- Ownership: the firm owns the client, the brand, and the data. You take a defined relationship list under Protocol when you leave, if you're lucky.
What you're paying for
Brand, real estate, research, lending, and a large compliance machine. The trade is straightforward: higher resources, lower payout, less control.
Independent broker-dealer.
As an independent contractor under a BD, your headline payout jumps to roughly 83% of gross. The mechanics under the hood matter.
How the math actually works
- Headline payout: ~83% on most product sets, sometimes higher at scale.
- Costs you now own: office, staff, errors and omissions, technology overrides, ticket charges, platform fees.
- Supervision: the BD owns supervision and compliance review, which is genuinely useful, and is also a constraint on how you market and advise.
- Ownership: you generally own the client relationship and the book, subject to your specific agreement.
Where it breaks down
Effective payout after E&O, technology, platform, and overhead frequently lands in the high 60s to mid 70s once a practice is fully loaded. The headline number isn't the take-home number.
Corporate or platform RIA.
A national RIA acquires or affiliates your practice, hands you a turnkey platform, and pays you a percentage of the revenue you generate.
How the math actually works
- Headline payout: ~75% of revenue, often with a separate equity or earnout component up front.
- What's included: compliance, technology, billing, HR, marketing support.
- Ownership: the platform usually owns the client, the brand, and the operating entity. You're a producer inside a larger firm.
- Exit: non-solicits and equity terms can make leaving expensive.
The honest read
It's a clean operational story. The cost is 25 cents of every dollar, in perpetuity, plus less control over the firm you're inside.
The AFS 90/10 independent model.
AFS is an independent RIA built so advisors keep the economics of ownership without rebuilding the firm themselves.
How the math actually works
- Flat 90/10 split. You keep 90 cents of every revenue dollar. AFS keeps 10 to run compliance, technology, custody relationships, billing, and operations.
- No platform fees, no overrides, no haircuts. The 10% is the 10%.
- Ownership: you own the client, the brand, and your book.
- No Penalty Exit: if AFS isn't the right home, you can leave with your practice intact. No clawbacks, no penalty.
Why the math holds up
A wirehouse advisor doing $1M in production keeps roughly $400–450K before deferred comp. The same practice under AFS keeps $900K, with compliance, custody, technology, and operations already handled.
See your own numbers
The 90/10 payout calculator takes your gross production and shows you the take-home under each model, side by side.
Which model actually fits your practice.
Payout percentage is the headline. The deciding factors are usually ownership, control, and what you want the next ten years to look like.
- Pick a wirehouse if brand and lending capacity matter more than economics or ownership.
- Pick an IBD if you need commission product capability and are willing to run the back office.
- Pick a corporate RIA if you want turnkey operations and are comfortable producing inside someone else's firm.
- Pick an independent RIA like AFS if you want ownership, the best economics, and a partner that handles the operating burden without taking the firm.
Most advisors who move to AFS were already independent in spirit. The 90/10 just lines the economics up with the work they were already doing.
If you're still scoping the move itself, the transition guide walks the registration, custody, compliance, and client communication work end to end.
Want to see your numbers under 90/10?
Send your trailing-twelve and current payout. We'll model it under AFS and show you the difference, confidentially.
Payout percentages cited are industry-typical ranges for illustration. Actual compensation varies by firm, agreement, product mix, and tenure.