Stifel Financial remains optimistic about the company's veteran advisor recruiting efforts, despite a nearly 1 percent year-over-year decrease in its wealth management division's broker headcount. Over the last three months, Stifel's Global Wealth division lost a net 17 advisors, primarily due to retirements.

According to AdvisorHub, Stifel added 13 experienced advisors in the quarter, generating approximately $10.5 million in combined annual revenue. This was about half the recruitment pace from the same quarter last year, reflecting an industry-wide slowdown in broker transitions. While CEO Ron Kruszewski acknowledged that year-end recruiting often slows, he assured analysts of a strong hiring pipeline and expects recruitment momentum to pick up in the following quarters.

AdvisorHub also reports that Stifel's wealth division revenue rose nearly 8 percent year-over-year to $827 million, with pretax net income up 1.1 percent to $302 million. The division's client assets also grew 20.3 percent year-over-year to $496 billion, and Kruszewski reaffirmed his goal to reach $1 trillion in managed assets.

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