By Brett Philbin Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Movement of financial advisers from major brokerages continued to decline, falling for the third straight month inOctober, according to data from research firm Discovery Database.

The researcher, which tracks financial adviser moves each month, said 361 brokers left major firms, known as wirehouses, down 5% from 380 in September.

The decline reflects the fact that many advisers are working under retention packages at their respective firms.

Discovery said 34% of advisers who moved, however, chose to go to another wirehouse instead of pursuing alternative options. According to the data, 20% changed to an institutional focus, 18% decided to go independent, 14% elected to join a bank while 11% went to regional firms.

Discovery's numbers aren't exact because the data aren't reported publicly by the firms. The reports sometimes include moves from the previous month because of lag time in gathering the information.

-By Brett Philbin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2173; brett.philbin@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-03-09 1618ET