Silver Oak Securities Launches AFX Custom Models

By 2034, the industry could face a shortage of 90,000 to 110,000 advisors — roughly 30% to 37% of current headcount — at current productivity levels, according to McKinsey. McKinsey also estimates that the number of advised relationships will grow at least 28% over the next decade, from 53 million today to at least 67 million by 2034. Meanwhile, Cerulli Associates projects that $84.4 trillion in wealth will transfer across generations through 2045, with $72.6 trillion going directly to heirs.

But the much-discussed advisor talent shortage isn’t a supply problem; plenty of capable, motivated people want to build careers in this industry. The gap is in development.

Experienced advisors aren’t building environments that foster next-gen talent, and that’s a missed opportunity.

The demand curve is steep and rising, while the curve heads in the opposite direction. The advisors best positioned to capitalize on the impending chasm are the ones preparing to exit. Many of them have 30 or 40 years of experience, strong books of business, and hard-won knowledge that took decades to accumulate. If that knowledge walks out the door with them, no amount of recruiting will make up for it.

Why Firms That Want to Win Can’t Wait

Most advisors hire reactively, waiting until they’re stretched thin and then searching for a unicorn employee who can contribute immediately. But as experienced advisors continue to exit, waiting is no longer a viable option.

Younger advisors need time to learn the work. They need to observe client conversations before they lead them and make mistakes in low-stakes situations before they’re trusted with complex ones. The kind of growth required to excel in our profession doesn’t happen within a six-month runway. It builds over years, and only when a senior advisor makes an intentional commitment to teach.

Hiring early is also a retention strategy. Research consistently shows that client attrition spikes sharply when a practice changes hands without built-in continuity. A client who has met your junior advisor, worked with them on smaller matters, and trusts them is less likely to walk away when leadership eventually transitions.

What to Look for in a Next-Gen Candidate

Resist the urge to hire a finished product. This goal is to find someone who can learn, not someone who already knows everything.

The traits that characterize advisory success in this role are less technical than you might expect: curiosity, communication skills, coachability, work ethic, and comfort discussing difficult or sensitive matters with clients.

Test for these things directly. Ask candidates to explain a financial concept to you as if you’re a first-time investor. Have them sit in on a client meeting and debrief afterward. Give them a real scenario, not a theoretical one, and see how they approach it. What you’re evaluating is more about judgment and the willingness to grow than knowledge parroted back from a course or textbook.

Invest in Development

Even advisors with the best mentoring and career development intentions can get sidetracked by the week-to-week demands of running a practice. But that leaves a junior advisor adrift, uncertain, and more likely to leave the profession entirely.

Build mentorship into a structured schedule with dedicated weekly touchpoints, gradual client exposure marked by clear milestones, and a defined progression of responsibility, so the junior advisor always knows what they’re working toward.

One advisor recently shared a set of leads he’d ignored for nearly a decade with a younger colleague on his team, who had the knowledge and confidence to start working them. Now the senior advisor is more engaged in his own business than he’s been in years, and referrals have started flowing again. The mentorship benefited the senior advisor, the junior colleague, the leads who are now being advised, and the firm itself.

The Business Impact of Cultivating the Next Generation

Nearly 38% of today’s advisors are expected to retire within the next decade. Advisors who invest in developing younger talent will be able to capture the demand from the impending exit wave while retaining existing clients.

Hiring a junior advisor isn’t a favor to the industry; it’s a strategic decision that expands your capacity, deepens your client relationships, and increases the long-term value of what you’ve built. Every experienced advisor who commits to developing one person creates a multiplier effect that the industry desperately needs.

JACKSON, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Silver Oak Securities, Inc., a leading independent broker-dealer and SEC Registered Investment Advisor, today announced the launch of AFX Custom Models, a curated series of multi-manager model portfolios available exclusively through its AdvisorFX platform. The new offering gives independent financial advisors direct access to institutional-grade investment solutions built by leading asset managers.

AFX Custom Models address critical pain points that limit advisor growth, including operational burdens, lack of access to institutional-quality managers, and the inability to build personalized portfolios at scale. The solution combines sophisticated investment strategies with streamlined execution, allowing advisors to maintain their investment philosophy while delegating construction and rebalancing to best-in-class partners.

“Beyond institutional-quality investment options, independent advisors need the service, support, and flexibility to grow their practices without adding complexity,” said Billy Hopkins, Founder and CEO of Silver Oak Securities. “With AFX Custom Models, they get access to world-class managers, comprehensive portfolio solutions, and the freedom to serve clients their way while we handle the implementation.”

The launch features five comprehensive investment series designed to address distinct client needs:

AFX Dynamic Allocation (built by Aptus Capital Advisors) allocates to higher-return market segments while actively managing risk to help reduce drawdowns. Built with flexibility to adjust exposure as risks and opportunities evolve. The series incorporates options-based strategies to enhance asset allocation, using primarily ETFs, with a high-net-worth version that includes both ETFs and individual securities.
AFX Core Portfolio Suite (built by Invesco) applies a tactical investment process using macro regime analysis of leading economic indicators and market risk sentiment. The suite builds cost-efficient, diversified models of ETFs across asset classes, geographies, factors, and investment disciplines.
AFX Enhanced starts with long-term strategic allocations across equity, fixed income, and alternatives that adapt to changing market conditions. The series blends a cost-effective mix of ETFs, mutual funds, and SMAs, with active managers focused on delivering alpha in core, tax-aware, and high-net-worth portfolios. It includes the option to add custom indexing for further personalization.
AFX Income (built by Invesco) builds diversified models of ETFs seeking to offer higher risk-managed income for non-qualified and tax-aware portfolios. Allocations include multi-asset and fixed income and alternatives with no equity exposure.
AFX Strategic (built by Fidelity Investments) leverages proprietary manager research, capital markets assumptions, and sophisticated risk analytics to construct long-term strategic asset allocations. The models seek to provide enhanced risk-adjusted returns through a disciplined, research-driven process that utilizes a mix of active and passive strategies across asset classes. The team employs an open architecture approach, selecting strategies from both Fidelity and third-party managers based on rigorous, unbiased analysis.

Each series includes tax-aware options and addresses specific investment objectives, from growth-focused allocations to income-generating strategies.

AFX Custom Models also provides advisors with comprehensive support, including timely marketing materials, practice management tools, and direct access to portfolio management teams, all with streamlined implementation through the AdvisorFX platform.

AFX Custom Models can be found in AFXInvest, part of Silver Oak’s broader AdvisorFX ecosystem. Advisors not on the Silver Oak platform can reach out for access to the suite. AdvisorFX also includes AFXTech (practice technology solutions) and AFXInsurance (in-house IMO access). The integrated platform is designed to support every aspect of an advisor’s practice, from investment management to operational efficiency and insurance solutions.

About Silver Oak Securities

Silver Oak Securities, Inc. is an independent, full-service Broker-Dealer and SEC-Registered Investment Advisor committed to supporting independent financial professionals. With equity ownership opportunities, modern technology, and a high-touch support model, Silver Oak empowers advisors to build meaningful client relationships and grow their practices on their own terms.

Fidelity Investments^® is an independent company, unaffiliated with Silver Oak Securities. Fidelity Investments is a service provider to Silver Oak Securities. There is no form of legal partnership, agency affiliation, or similar relationship between Silver Oak Securities and Fidelity Investments, nor is such a relationship created or implied by the information herein. Fidelity Investments is a registered trademark of FMR LLC. Fidelity Investments^® provides investment products through Fidelity Distributors Company LLC; clearing, custody, or other brokerage services through National Financial Services LLC or Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Members NYSE, SIPC; and institutional advisory services through Fidelity Institutional Wealth Adviser LLC. [1242361.1.0]

Contacts

Media Contact:
Hollie Murrin
Director of Marketing
Silver Oak Securities
[email protected]