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United Capital Financial Partners Inc. announced last week that it has purchased Peak Capital Investment Services, for an undisclosed sum, to expand its national wealth advisory services.  Peak, which has offices in Dallas and Denver, has about $600 million in assets under management, which will add to United Capital’s base of $16 billion in total assets across its organization.

The four largest custodians — Fidelity, Pershing, Schwab, and TD Ameritrade — lured more than 400 advisors or advisor teams with about $27 billion in assets from wirehouses in 2010. These advisors, known as "breakaway brokers" left their firms to establish independent practices with Fidelity, Pershing, Schwab, or TD.

As respectable as 2010's breakaway results were, however, they're actually slightly lower than the record numbers of 2009 and may indicate a gradual return to pre-crisis levels. Large independent firms like United Capital Financial Partners, HighTower Advisors, and Focus Financial Partners are the main facilitators of advisor breakaways to the independent space.