America added more jobs than expected in December. Likewise, RIA firms plan to step up hiring in the coming months
America added more jobs than expected in December, even in the face of higher interest rates, reflecting increased economic optimism heading into 2025.
Not to be outdone, wealth managers expect to be hiring more in the coming months as well.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 256,000 jobs in December, the most since March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Dow Jones consensus of Wall Street economists forecast payrolls adding 155,000 jobs.
The surge in jobs caused the unemployment rate to drop to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent. Additionally, employment data for October and November was revised to show 8,000 fewer jobs added than previously stated.
The economy created 2.23 million jobs in the final year of President Joe Biden's term. Wage growth, meanwhile, proved to be in line with expectations, with average earnings up 0.3 percent on a monthly basis and 3.9 percent from a year ago.
The S&P 500 sold off over 1.5 percent Friday in response to the news. Market participants displayed their concern that an overheating economy will force the Federal Reserve to pause its rate cutting program in 2025. The yield on the benchmark 10-Year Treasury spiked above 4.7 percent on the report.
Lara Castleton, US head of portfolio construction and strategy (PCS) at Janus Henderson Investors, said in a statement that the first big dataprint for the year confirmed that the US economy is solid, encouraging the US exceptionalism narrative and discouraging optimism outside the US. Within US markets, however, she said “the good news is starting to once again sound like bad news.”
“Longer end rates are climbing higher, odds of a 2025 Fed cut are rapidly declining and further dollar strength has potential to be a headwind for US companies. For investors hoping for equity markets to broaden from the megacap tech names, this print didn’t do them any favors,” Castleton said.
Today's strong unemployment report likely sounds the “death knell” for this easing cycle from the Fed, said Peter Graf, chief investment officer at Nikko Asset Management Americas, in a statement.
“The beat on the fickle payrolls number could later be revised away, but its strength is legitimized by household unemployment survey results that have at least plateaued, if not peaked. The maturity wall for corporate borrowing will start to seem much closer now that the balance of risks has tilted toward inflation, and we can't rule out a hike as the Fed's next move.”
Wealth managers plan to add jobs
Healthcare added 46,000 jobs in December, making it the winning sector in the report. Retail tied with leisure and hospitality for second place with both sectors adding 43,000 jobs for the month.
Employment showed "little significant change" over the month in the financial activities space, the BLS report said. Nevertheless, several financial advisors said they will be actively adding staff members in 2025.
Emily Raymond, chief operating officer at Regent Peak Wealth Advisors, for example, said she will be increasing the number of business development positions at the firm, as well as adding a “more hybrid role” that will support both existing client service associates, as well as Regent Peak's associate wealth advisors.
“You can’t have one without the other to produce quality, efficient, top-notch service to our clients,” Raymond said.
Elsewhere, Rick Wedell, president and chief investment officer at RFG Advisory, said he added about 30 to 40 people to his team in 2024 and expects more hires in the coming year.
“We expect to add about 10 people to our staff in 2025 across all functional areas to support our corporate goals and maintain the exceptional service we provide to our advisors,” Wedell said.
Moving on, Ritik Malhotra, founder and CEO at Savvy Wealth, said his plan for 2025 is to rapidly grow the Savvy Advisors advisory team, while doubling the size of his technology, marketing, and operations teams.
“These hiring efforts are to further position Savvy Advisors as a welcome home for independent advisory teams and individual advisors who are looking for a new home that will support their growth ambitions,” Malhotra said.
Derek Wittjohann, chief operating officer at Premier Path Wealth Partners, said his hiring plans not only include service and support team members, but advisors and advisor teams too. And especially ones who are “frustrated with the limitations of large wirehouses, understand the benefits of being an independent wealth management firm, and are looking for support in making that happen.”
Andrew Schiff, CEO of TritonPoint Wealth, said he is likely to hire at least one relationship manager by the summer and, assuming trends continue, a junior advisor before the end of the third quarter.
“Technology adoption has allowed us to automate many tasks that were previously more manual, so our need for back office support is less today than what it was a few years ago, despite a larger practice. But for client facing staff, there’s no substitute for a human being, and we plan to continue to add folks, accordingly,” Schiff said.
Finally, Sara Baker, president at Triad Wealth Partners, plans to hire four employees in the first quarter across client service, advisor transition support, and portfolio management.
“We also plan on hiring at least two additional planning specialists to our centralized planning team later in the year,” Baker said.
Meet
Ritik Malhotra
Ritik is Founder & CEO at Savvy Wealth. When trying to find a financial advisor that offered a tech-forward, modern experience after selling two startups in his 20s, Ritik was compelled to found Savvy when he was unable to find what he was looking for. Since then, Ritik has built an AI-driven technology platform and $700M+ AUM firm that not only simplifies advisors' day to day, but also reduces friction in client engagement.
Wealth managers planning to add to ranks in 2025
America added more jobs than expected in December. Likewise, RIA firms plan to step up hiring in the coming months
America added more jobs than expected in December, even in the face of higher interest rates, reflecting increased economic optimism heading into 2025.
Not to be outdone, wealth managers expect to be hiring more in the coming months as well.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 256,000 jobs in December, the most since March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Dow Jones consensus of Wall Street economists forecast payrolls adding 155,000 jobs.
The surge in jobs caused the unemployment rate to drop to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent. Additionally, employment data for October and November was revised to show 8,000 fewer jobs added than previously stated.
The economy created 2.23 million jobs in the final year of President Joe Biden's term. Wage growth, meanwhile, proved to be in line with expectations, with average earnings up 0.3 percent on a monthly basis and 3.9 percent from a year ago.
The S&P 500 sold off over 1.5 percent Friday in response to the news. Market participants displayed their concern that an overheating economy will force the Federal Reserve to pause its rate cutting program in 2025. The yield on the benchmark 10-Year Treasury spiked above 4.7 percent on the report.
Lara Castleton, US head of portfolio construction and strategy (PCS) at Janus Henderson Investors, said in a statement that the first big dataprint for the year confirmed that the US economy is solid, encouraging the US exceptionalism narrative and discouraging optimism outside the US. Within US markets, however, she said “the good news is starting to once again sound like bad news.”
“Longer end rates are climbing higher, odds of a 2025 Fed cut are rapidly declining and further dollar strength has potential to be a headwind for US companies. For investors hoping for equity markets to broaden from the megacap tech names, this print didn’t do them any favors,” Castleton said.
Today's strong unemployment report likely sounds the “death knell” for this easing cycle from the Fed, said Peter Graf, chief investment officer at Nikko Asset Management Americas, in a statement.
“The beat on the fickle payrolls number could later be revised away, but its strength is legitimized by household unemployment survey results that have at least plateaued, if not peaked. The maturity wall for corporate borrowing will start to seem much closer now that the balance of risks has tilted toward inflation, and we can't rule out a hike as the Fed's next move.”
Wealth managers plan to add jobs
Healthcare added 46,000 jobs in December, making it the winning sector in the report. Retail tied with leisure and hospitality for second place with both sectors adding 43,000 jobs for the month.
Employment showed "little significant change" over the month in the financial activities space, the BLS report said. Nevertheless, several financial advisors said they will be actively adding staff members in 2025.
Emily Raymond, chief operating officer at Regent Peak Wealth Advisors, for example, said she will be increasing the number of business development positions at the firm, as well as adding a “more hybrid role” that will support both existing client service associates, as well as Regent Peak's associate wealth advisors.
“You can’t have one without the other to produce quality, efficient, top-notch service to our clients,” Raymond said.
Elsewhere, Rick Wedell, president and chief investment officer at RFG Advisory, said he added about 30 to 40 people to his team in 2024 and expects more hires in the coming year.
“We expect to add about 10 people to our staff in 2025 across all functional areas to support our corporate goals and maintain the exceptional service we provide to our advisors,” Wedell said.
Moving on, Ritik Malhotra, founder and CEO at Savvy Wealth, said his plan for 2025 is to rapidly grow the Savvy Advisors advisory team, while doubling the size of his technology, marketing, and operations teams.
“These hiring efforts are to further position Savvy Advisors as a welcome home for independent advisory teams and individual advisors who are looking for a new home that will support their growth ambitions,” Malhotra said.
Derek Wittjohann, chief operating officer at Premier Path Wealth Partners, said his hiring plans not only include service and support team members, but advisors and advisor teams too. And especially ones who are “frustrated with the limitations of large wirehouses, understand the benefits of being an independent wealth management firm, and are looking for support in making that happen.”
Andrew Schiff, CEO of TritonPoint Wealth, said he is likely to hire at least one relationship manager by the summer and, assuming trends continue, a junior advisor before the end of the third quarter.
“Technology adoption has allowed us to automate many tasks that were previously more manual, so our need for back office support is less today than what it was a few years ago, despite a larger practice. But for client facing staff, there’s no substitute for a human being, and we plan to continue to add folks, accordingly,” Schiff said.
Finally, Sara Baker, president at Triad Wealth Partners, plans to hire four employees in the first quarter across client service, advisor transition support, and portfolio management.
“We also plan on hiring at least two additional planning specialists to our centralized planning team later in the year,” Baker said.
Meet
Ritik Malhotra
Ritik is Founder & CEO at Savvy Wealth. When trying to find a financial advisor that offered a tech-forward, modern experience after selling two startups in his 20s, Ritik was compelled to found Savvy when he was unable to find what he was looking for. Since then, Ritik has built an AI-driven technology platform and $700M+ AUM firm that not only simplifies advisors' day to day, but also reduces friction in client engagement.
