comp records shared by people who stopped guessing
The comp conversation that happens after the panels end.
Real bonus structures, equity splits, and deferred comp schedules — from financial advisors, portfolio managers, and compliance officers who stopped guessing and started sharing.
$127K
Northeast · $500M–$1B AUM
18–42%
of base · 2,100 records
You offered 60bps. They countered with 80. You don't know if 80 is real.
When a star advisor walks in with a competing offer, most firm owners are negotiating blind. You know what you pay. You don't know what the market pays — for this role, this region, this AUM band.
Advisor payout ratios by AUM, channel, and tenure — 38,000 records.
Not a survey. Not a range from a consultant who hasn't been on a desk in a decade. Actual payout structures submitted by the advisors living them.
Payout Ratio Distribution
Senior FA · Independent RIA · $200M–$500M AUM
63bps
P50 Median
74bps
P75
88bps
P90
Bonus structures for 18 roles — base, production, retention, and equity.
See exactly how production bonuses are tiered at firms like yours — by AUM, headcount, and channel. Median, 75th, and 90th percentile, all in one view.
Comp Structure Breakdown
Senior Advisor · Broker-Dealer · $1B–$5B AUM
Your comp grid was built in 2019. The market moved. Your grid didn't.
HR directors at broker-dealers are rebuilding comp structures with data from before the great advisor migration. The benchmarks you're using are three cycles out of date.
Data Snapshot · Q1 2026
Is your equity model keeping advisors — or quietly pushing them out the door?
Phantom equity, SARs, and deferred comp schedules vary wildly by firm size and structure. Most advisors and owners have never seen another firm's model. They're designing retention tools in the dark.
Equity splits and deferred comp vesting from 891 RIA structures.
From cliff vesting to ratable schedules, from phantom equity to true ownership — see what the market is actually offering advisors who are worth keeping.
Equity Split · Typical RIA Structure
$200M–$1B AUM · 6–15 advisors · n=891
Founding Partners
42%
Senior Advisors
28%
Equity Pool
18%
Phantom / SARs
12%
Median deferred comp schedule: 4yr cliff + 1yr ratable · 67% of RIAs use this structure
Three questions.
No email yet.
Tell us your role, your firm's AUM, and your region. We'll show you exactly where you sit in the distribution — before we ask for anything else.
What people say after they look
“I'd been paying 58bps thinking I was competitive. The data showed the median in my market was 67. I fixed it before we lost anyone.”
Marcus Delgado
RIA Principal · $380M AUM · Denver
“We rebuilt our entire comp grid for next year using Benchmark data. First time in six years the grid felt like it was grounded in something real.”
Patricia Osei-Bonsu
SVP Compensation · Regional BD · Atlanta
“I'm a solo planner. I had no idea what 'market' meant for my payout. Turns out I was leaving 12 points on the table.”
James Whitfield
CFP · Independent · Boston