The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has published its 2026 Industry Snapshot, an annual report based on aggregate data it collects through oversight of member firms and work performed for other regulators. The report shows a securities industry with continued growth in registered professionals, fewer member firms because of concentration, wider use of dual broker-dealer and investment adviser registration, and higher equity and options trading volumes, including in extended-hours markets. Registered representatives reached 639,723 in 2025, up 5% since 2021, marking four consecutive years of growth, with 40,000 to 45,000 people entering the industry annually. More than half of FINRA-registered representatives, 331,802, now hold both broker-dealer and investment adviser registration. Average daily dollar volume in exchange-listed National Market System stocks rose to a record USD 828 billion in 2025, more than one third above 2022, while extended-hours trading accounted for about one fifth of total activity. Average daily listed options transactions increased to 8.4 million in 2025 from 5.6 million in 2023, and zero days to expiration options represented about 30% of all options transactions.

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