Advisor Recruitment Planner

Estimate the candidate leads, interviews, hires, and hiring ROI a paid recruitment campaign can generate for an advisory practice. All figures in Canadian dollars (CAD).

1
Candidate segment and channel

Pick who you are recruiting and where. Each choice loads its own benchmark presets from the INS Recruitment Benchmark Tables (V1.0). Job boards apply to New Entrant recruiting only.

Candidate segment
Primary channel

2
Calculator assumptions

Conservative planning benchmarks in CAD for the selected segment and channel. Where no Canadian data is published, US figures are converted at USD x 1.40 and flagged. Your first month of live campaign data replaces every one of them.

Cost per candidate lead, planning
Form conversion
Cost per hire, orientation
$7,700 - $9,800
CAD, converted from USD x 1.40. Financial services average cost per hire (SHRM 2025 analyses). Executive hires average about $50,200 CAD. Advisor recruitment sits between the two; the planner output should land in or below this band.
Value anchor
INS setup fee
$1,750
CAD, one time. Strategy, recruiting offer, dedicated recruiting page, ad creative, platform setup, and candidate nurture sequence. INS program agreement.
INS monthly retainer
$500
CAD. Fixed program management fee, separate from ad spend. Above $2,500/month ad spend, a 20% management fee applies to the amount over $2,500. INS rate sheet.
3
Campaign inputs

Move the sliders to match your budget and your market. Outputs update instantly. Slider defaults reset when you change segment or channel.

Monthly ad spend

Paid directly to the ad platform, separate from the $500 monthly retainer.

Campaign length

Programs run six months by default. Senior advisor recruitment cycles run 60 to 120 days or longer; three months is the minimum worth reading results from.

Cost per candidate lead

Defaults to the segment planning benchmark. Adjust to your market.

Qualified candidate rate

Share of candidate leads that pass the qualifying form questions and a first screen.

Interview rate

Share of qualified candidates that reach a held interview. Advisor follow-up speed is the primary driver.

Hire rate

Share of held interviews that become a hire. Cross-industry average is 27%; senior advisor recruitment plans below it.

Regional candidate pool

Estimated advisors in your geography who fit the segment profile. Monthly leads above about 2% of this pool are flagged as unachievable.

Outlook

Applies a plus or minus 15% band to the three conversion rates (qualified, interview, hire). Conservative fits a first campaign with no pipeline history; Optimistic fits a defined role, fast follow-up, and a strong practice story.

4
Value inputs

Book at hire

Book portability

Share of the hired advisor's assets that transition. Breakaway research: 70 to 90%.

Practice revenue share

Share of the hired advisor's gross production retained by the practice under the team or succession agreement. Confirm in discovery.

5
Calculated outputs

Estimates only. Recruitment is measured in quality conversations. The funnel compounds: leads, qualified candidates, interviews, hires.

Candidate leads / month
-
Total candidate leads
-
Qualified candidates
-
Interviews held
-
Hires
-
Cost per hire
-
Total program investment divided by hires. Compare to the financial services band of $7,700 to $9,800 CAD.
Cost per qualified candidate
-
Cost per lead, all-in
-
Ad spend plus setup and management fees, divided by total candidate leads.
Program investment
Ad spend total-
Fees total-
Per month, averaged-
Total investment
-
Year 1 value
Value per hire-
Program value-
Payback-
Year 1 value : cost
-
3-year value
Value per hire-
Program value-
Client retention applied95%
3-year value : cost
-

How this calculator works

Your ad budget generates candidate leads at the segment's cost per lead. Qualifying form questions and a first screen produce qualified candidates; a share of those reach a held interview; a share of interviews become a hire. Each stage compounds, which is why the hire count is small and the conversations matter.

Value per hire for licensed segments is the book that transitions with the advisor: book size, times portability, times a 75 bps advisory fee (INS planning benchmark), times the practice's revenue share. The 3-year view applies 95% annual client retention. For New Entrants, value is a multi-year production ramp already discounted for rookie survival, so year 1 shows a ramp, not revenue.

Recruitment ads targeting Canada are employment ads under Meta's Special Ad Category. Age and gender targeting, lookalike audiences, and most detailed targeting are blocked, and custom audiences are restricted. Campaigns reach candidates through geography and creative-led self-selection with qualifying form questions. The benchmarks here already reflect that constraint.

Program cost combines the one-time setup fee, the monthly retainer, any management fee on ad spend above $2,500 per month, and the ad spend itself. Advisor recruitment is a narrow, high-value audience: a steady handful of qualified, curious advisors per month is a working campaign, and one hire is the realistic goal for a senior campaign.

Disclaimer. This calculator is a planning tool that produces estimates based on industry benchmarks and inSymmetry's modelling assumptions (INS Recruitment Benchmark Tables V1.0). It is not a guarantee of results. No Canadian advisor-recruitment advertising benchmark is published; segment costs per lead are INS modelled assumptions anchored on US recruitment advertising data (converted at USD x 1.40 = CAD), Meta Special Ad Category constraints, and Canadian market-structure data (CIRO registrant counts, advisor demographics). Funnel conversion rates draw on published recruitment research (CareerPlug 2025, Pin 2026) and INS methodology. Value per hire depends on book size, portability, fee rates, and the practice's revenue share, all of which must be confirmed for the specific practice. Actual performance varies with budget, market conditions, audience size, creative quality, and follow-up speed, and individual results will differ. All figures are in Canadian dollars and do not constitute financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Candidate capture is built on express opt-in consent for CASL compliance.

inSymmetry Advisor Recruitment Program - Calculator V3.0 | 2026-07-14All figures CAD - For discussion purposes only