Historically, best-performing brokers have hopped from one of the big four to another at least once in their career, collecting multi-million-dollar sign-on bonuses in the process.

Some recent high-profile moves followed such a pattern: a team of Merrill Lynch advisors who managed $6.5 billion in assets left for Morgan Stanley while a group of Morgan Stanley brokers with $1.6 billion under management switched to Merrill Lynch.

The Botkins also considered leaving Morgan Stanley for another big bank that offered them $5 million over 9 years, including a $1.6 million up-front payment.

But more brokers are opting to go independent because many brokerages have raised clients' fees and minimum balances, and pressured brokers to lend more.

"If you're a big team and banking is an important part of your business, then a wire can be a wonderful place," said Sara Botkin. "But if you're more focused on financial planning and investment strategy, it can be a harder place to run your business."

Lester P. Botkin said that in recent years, Morgan Stanley had pressured brokers to charge typical clients more than 1.25 percent. If he, in a mid-size market like Pittsburgh, wanted to charge clients less, it came out of his paycheck.

Morgan Stanley said advisors were allowed to negotiate fees with clients and were under no obligation to charge the 1.25 percent rate. It declined to comment on any further aspects of the article.

The Botkins estimate they will nearly double their annual take-home pay by running their own business, despite higher expenses. Their new business, Botkin Family Wealth Management, pays LPL Financial Holdings Inc, a leading provider for independent wealth management business, for technology, compliance and trading services.

Client List And Picture

All the Botkins took from Morgan Stanley's office the day they left was a framed painting of a section of the Augusta National Golf Club's course called "Amen Corner," and contact information for about 400 clients. All the clients they contacted agreed to join the new firm, they said.