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Author: rafferty

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Eyes on Kestra: IBDs Are Still in High Demand

17:41 19 December in In the News by rafferty

December 18, 2018 By Diana Britton, WealthManagement   Stone Point may be looking to get out of the IBD business, but there’s still an appetite for such firms, even as the stock market suffers. Private equity firm Stone Point Capital is reportedly looking to offload Kestra Financial, the Austin-based independent broker/dealer it purchased less than three years ago. And while we may be headed for a bear market in stocks, it’s still a bull market for IBDs, industry observers say, especially for firms like Kestra. A couple years ago, there was a lot of noise around diminished demand for independent broker/dealers, especially as the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule was set to take effect. Now that there’s less regulatory uncertainty, firms are focusing more on the future, with a bullish view. “Contrary to speculation a number...

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Kestra BD Sale: Now or Never?

18:03 18 December in In the News by rafferty

December 17, 2018 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor   It’s turning out to be a nasty season for sales of equities. But how about broker-dealers? Industry watchers have varying takes on how they see the market for broker-dealers playing out for potential sellers in late 2018 and early 2019. But they agree that the private equity owner of Kestra Financial  — Stone Pointe Capital — is smart to be making a move now. “Stone Pointe … bought it, rebranded it and did great work dressing it up for another sale,” said Tim Welsh, head of the consultancy Nexus Strategy, in an interview. “It looks like the end of the bull market, so if you are gonna sell a financial company, you’ve got to do it now.” A downturn in the stock market, Welsh says, “means valuations are going...

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Is New York City Entering a Pension Death Spiral like Chicago?

17:04 14 December in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

December 11, 2018 By Jon Henschen, Intellectual Takeout As bad as the situation in Chicago is, with a public pension system $42 billion in the red, New York has even worse exposure. Its standings include $65 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, $100 billion in unfunded retiree health care, and a city debt of approximately 50 billion – for a grand total of $215 billion. These problems are likely driven by unsustainable policies, such as the one where city workers with 10+ years of service get free health care for life. Thus, while the private sector has long used 401K plans funded by the employee with small contributions from the employer, the public sector still enjoys generous benefit plans constitutionally guaranteed and funded by New York’s taxpayers. According to Eric Boehm of Reason, New York City has been spending...