We kicked off this year’s Investment Executive Report Card series on Wednesday, with the release of the Brokerage Report Card 2026. Katie Keir, our research manager, deployed a team of seven interviewers who spoke with 663 investment advisors across 14 investment dealer firms and brokerages.
The full Report Card program also includes the Dealers’ Report Card, due in September (on full-service and mutual fund dealers and firms), the Report Card on Banks in October (on the Big Six’s retail planner divisions) and the Advisors’ Report Card in November (a year-end summary report). Stay tuned.
Together, these studies deliver a peek inside organizations that advisors may consider joining, and they give industry participants a granular look at the state of the industry based on advisor feedback and executive commentary. All in, we cover more than 30 organizations and interview close to 1,500 advisors.
There is a fine, but important, methodology note that bears repeating here. Our Report Card series does not rank organizations.
Its results are based on interviews with advisors who work for the firm they’re delivering feedback on. They shoot pretty straight, and our interviewers press them if their answers feel incomplete. But while we gain genuine insight into how those firms operate, we do not rank organizations based on our findings. It would be irresponsible to do so.
Our Report Cards summarize advisor perceptions on a range of industry priorities. Do they receive the support they need from their organization? Is the culture healthy? Are they able to provide clients with products that meet their unique needs?
After we’ve collected that information, we engage firm executives to get their reaction to what we’ve learned. That second step is just as important as the first. The end product is our best effort at capturing a balanced view on each organization’s strategy and their advisors’ perspective on how it’s working.
Keir applies a level of detail orientation to her team’s work that I admire and rely on heavily. Since taking the helm in 2019, she’s demonstrated a conscientious dedication to the Report Card series that has a lot to do with why it is so widely read.
But the program wouldn’t be possible without its partners. These studies depend on the organizations it covers. Their participation requires considerable work — something all of us here appreciate.