Kristen Kimmell is Executive Vice President, Business Development, Advisor Group

Melanie Senter Lubin is Maryland Securities Commissioner, President of the North American Securities Administrators Association

Matt Reiner is CEO and Co-founder of Benjamin; Partner at Wela Strategies LLC and Capital Investment Advisors

Gabe Rissman is Co-founder and President, YourStake

Niharika Shah is CEO, Clout; Partner, Tifin

Each of the people on this year's Ten to Watch list, in unique ways, has the potential to change the way advisors work.

Franklin Templeton's announcement it will buy Lexington Partners, a private equity fund manager, for $1.75 billion, comes on the heels of T. Rowe Price's $4.2 billion purchase of Oak Hill Advisors.

LPL Financial has been adding advisors via Strategic Wealth Services, its W-2 employee model and its relaunched RIA custody offering.

Bank of America's overall roster of wealth advisers slumped to 18,855 in the third quarter, down 8% from a year earlier.