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Author: rafferty

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4 Factors That May Cause a Flood of Broker-Dealer Sales

17:40 07 December in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

December 4, 2015 By Jon Henschen, as featured on ThinkAdvisor   With 9,500 Cetera Financial Group reps, 470 NEXT Financial Group reps and 4,925 AIG Advisor Group reps looking to “get bought,” we may be headed for a floodtide of broker-dealer sales as prospects for their future profitability fade. The current motives to sell are unique to these particular firms, with Cetera needing to either partially or fully sell its broker-dealers to generate revenue to cover its debt load, activist investor Carl Icahn wanting AIG to split up into three entities and focus on core business while NEXT Financial, a rep-owned broker-dealer, is looking for a liquidity event. When firms look out over the next five years, many may determine that the risk-reward model has the risks pulling ahead, with the question becoming not whether they...

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SEC Agrees to FINRA’s BrokerCheck Change on Posting Firings

00:23 02 December in In the News by rafferty

December 1, 2015 By Melanie Waddell, ThinkAdvisor   FINRA will reduce from 15 days to three the release of disclosure information filed on Form U5 The Securities and Exchange Commission approved Monday the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s plan to reduce from 15 days to three the release of disclosure information filed on Form U5 through BrokerCheck. Firms use Form U5 to terminate broker registrations with self-regulatory organizations and the states. Most of the information that FINRA releases through BrokerCheck generally is made available the day after it is filed with the Central Registration Depository system. FINRA’s Rule 8312, however — which governs the information FINRA releases to the public via BrokerCheck — provided for a 15-day delay in disclosing terminations. The 15-day waiting period, according to FINRA, was established to give brokers on whose behalf the Form U5...

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AIG Advisor Group for Sale: Who’s Likely to Buy It?

16:51 18 November in In the News by rafferty

November 17, 2015 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor   With Cetera also up for grabs, who could pounce on the latest IBD to hit the market? News of the possible sale of yet another large group of independent broker-dealers emerged Tuesday, when AIG disclosed that it had been contacted by parties with interest in its Advisor Group. “AIG is conducting a strategic review of all its priorities as part of its stated goal of focusing on its core services and reducing the complexity of its business. This effort includes a review of the benefits associated with its ongoing ownership of a network of broker-dealers, and we have received several inquiries regarding its Advisor Group business,” according to an AIG statement shared with ThinkAdvisor on Tuesday. “AIG values the Advisor Group franchise, and any possible actions taken will...