It's a new year with new management installed at the biggest brokerage firms. But the landscape seems eerily the same since this movement has been more like musical chairs rather than wholesale change.

Still, it will make for interesting theater as 2010 gets underway. Will Sallie Krawcheck, the former Smith Barney chief now atop Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, really be in control? Will Bob McCann, most recently captain of the ship at Merrill Lynch before the takeover, really be able to change the fortunes of the UBS brokerage division? Will Charlie Johnston take Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to new heights? What of the publicity-shy management at Wells Fargo? And, will JPMorgan Chase become a bigger player with its Bear Stearns advisors?

These were all questions debated at our annual recruiters roundtable. There were those who felt that Krawcheck might be overshadowed by whoever takes over at Bank of America. Others believed that McCann, faced with a daunting challenge in light of the black eye UBS has suffered, has an easier job. There's nowhere to go but up. Johnston has to deal with the growing pains of integrating two strong cultures. Still others pointed to the lack of identity at Wells Fargo. And, JPMorgan Chase was cited for having muscle as well as magic.

In our cover story, our nine experts weigh in on what all these changes at the top mean for the advisors on the front lines and their recruitment packages. One headhunter believes that 2010 will be the year of the four wirehouses, when they will be forced to differentiate themselves from one another.

But other recruiters disagreed. Regional firms were touted as the big winners, as they lured advisors from their larger rivals. Consider some of the numbers provided by long-time panelist Rich Schwarzkopf. For instance, RBC Dain saw its headcount increase last year to 2,103 from 1,784. Stifel Nicolaus also saw quite a bit of growth during the same period. Over the past year, we've been reporting the movement of teams-some from the traditional wirehouses-to these regional firms. So, take a close look at this roundtable.

There's more in this issue as well. In Peak Performance, Tim Knepp discusses the "Many Ways to Gain Exposure to Gold." But Knepp doesn't merely list gold-focused products, he explains a range of issues that investors should consider when deciding on how to get this precious metal into their portfolios.

Finally, in Life Stories, Lyle LaMothe, head of U.S. Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch, gives us insight into his path to the top and what's ahead for our evolving industry.