There’s a 50/50 split among investors on the question of whether they would follow their advisor to a new firm or stay with the old firm, according to a recent survey from Lake Forest, Ill.-based Spectrem Group.

This split applies to both millionaire investors, with a net worth between US$1 million and US$5 million, and ultra high net worth investors with a net worth between US$5 million and US$25 million. However, mass affluent investors investors, those with a net worth of between US$100,000 and US$1 million, lean slightly toward staying with the firm.

“It is possible that the mass affluent, a segment that skews younger, might not have the same amount of time invested in the relationship with the advisor, making the choice to stay with the firm more attractive,” Spectrem says in a statement.

“Two-thirds of investors who prefer to stay with the firm do so because the safety and brand name of the company is more important than the relationship with the advisor,” Spectrem adds.

See also: How loyal are your clients?

Investors were also asked to judge their level of loyalty overall, to either a company or to a person within the brand or company.

Investors who consider themselves very advisor dependent are far more loyal to that person than they are to the brand, Spectrem says, with 52% claiming greater loyalty to the individual, versus just 26%, who favour the brand.

In contrast, self-directed investors who only use advisors when dealing with significant life events, report they are more likely to be loyal to the brand, 40%, over the individual, 30%.

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