Broker-Dealer Data Packs Now Cost Over $1M. What Teams Should Do First

Wirehouse advisor data used to be a favor. Now it is a product with a price tag. Merrill Lynch disclosed that starting January 1, 2027, it will sell advisor product-usage data to asset managers, joining Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo, and UBS. For boutique and mid-size firms with lean distribution teams, broker-dealer data packs raise a fair question: is the expenditure worth it?

Demand Ignition helps asset managers and wealth managers, especially smaller, resource-constrained firms, get more sales value out of the third-party data and technology they have already purchased. This news places more attention on the topic.

What are broker-dealer data packs, and what do they cost?

Broker-dealer data packs are paid datasets in which a wirehouse or large broker-dealer shows asset managers how its advisors use products on its platform. Merrill's version covers mutual funds, ETFs, alternatives, SMAs, model portfolios, and annuities, and excludes client-level information, per AdvisorHub.

Advisor-level data at Merrill runs from $125,000 to $860,000 a year, with passive ETF data at $25,000 to $550,000. FundFire reports that peers charge up to $850,000 (Morgan Stanley), up to $1.15 million (Wells Fargo), and $170,000 to $370,000 (UBS). Merrill also plans support fees on SMAs and active ETFs, and says it will weigh them in product-selection decisions.

Access spending is already climbing. Asset managers paid Merrill $31.2 million in 2025 for events and advisor access, up 28% from about $24.4 million in 2024, according to AdvisorHub.

Should a smaller asset manager buy a data pack?

Only after proving you can act on the data you already hold. A data pack is an input, not a strategy, and a six-figure file that cannot be matched to advisors in your CRM is an expensive PDF.

The bigger risk is sequencing. Many lean teams already receive distributor data from platform and wirehouse partners, such as sales and asset reports, holdings feeds, and event lists, and leave it in inboxes or unmatched spreadsheets. Buying more before that data drives daily wholesaler decisions adds cost without adding lift. Merrill itself acknowledges a financial incentive to favor managers who pay, so the purchase should be a deliberate business case, not a fear of missing out.

What should distribution teams do before signing a data pack contract?

Start with a four-step check. First, inventory every distributor and third-party file you already receive and who owns it. Second, match advisors, branches, and firms to CRM records with stable IDs, so a new file lands on something. Third, name one decision the data must change, such as which 50 advisors get a call this month. Fourth, if you still want a pack, ask for the narrowest tier that answers that question rather than the full product.

Teams that do this find that half the value they wanted from a paid pack was already sitting in data they had. The other half becomes a precise, defensible purchase.

A data pack rewards the firm that has already built the plumbing to use it. If you want help building that plumbing, see our services.

Key Takeaways

• Broker-dealer data packs are now a priced market: up to $860,000 at Merrill from 2027, up to $850,000 at Morgan Stanley, up to $1.15 million at Wells Fargo, and $170,000 to $370,000 at UBS.
• Smaller managers should activate the distributor data they already receive before buying more, starting with CRM matching and clear ownership.
• Buy narrowly if you buy at all: tie the purchase to one named sales decision and the smallest tier that supports it.