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Articles Written by Jon Henschen

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Is Your Broker-Dealer in a Death Spiral? 4 Steps to Discovery

17:13 11 December in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

December 8, 2016 By Jon Henschen as featured on ThinkAdvisor In a recent conversation with an advisor at an independent broker-dealer, I brought up a few issues of concern regarding his BD. They included a pattern of disparaging press the firm had experienced over the last few years, the loss of numerous advisors, several large fines that had been imposed and their financials running at a loss in the most recent focus filing. The advisor went to the president of the broker-dealer, who assured him that everything was fine, that they had not lost numerous reps and all was in excellent order. The advisor then shared his feedback with me with an attitude that appeared to imply that either I was misinformed or had not been telling him the truth. About a month later,...

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The Chilling Effect of an Over-Zealous FINRA’s Gibbeting

16:59 11 November in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

November 11, 2016 by Jon Henschen, as featured on ThinkAdvisor Displaying the bodies of executed criminals in public was a common practice in medieval times. The authorities did so to deter anyone from considering committing similar crimes. The practice, known as “gibbeting” refers to the mechanism from which the corpses of the criminals were hung when put on public display. FINRA also does gibbeting, although metaphorically, through FINRA BrokerCheck as well as the numerous press articles on advisor misdeeds we see daily. The trend over the last few years reveals that issues previously either not on FINRA’s radar or considered minor issues are now not only a big deal but potentially a career ender. Unintended Wrongdoing or Felony Offense? My intent is not to diminish the severity of legitimate wrongdoing, such as embezzling a client’s...

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Is Private Equity IBDs’ Savior or Sorcerer?

20:28 01 August in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

By Jon Henschen As featured in the August issue of Investment Advisor magazine   Private equity firms have increased purchasing activity of BDs, but it's a mixed bag for the firms being bought Several years ago, I attended a third-party recruiter gathering hosted by an insurance-owned broker-dealer that was working to attract advisors. During the day-long meetings, the president of this broker-dealer brought up private equity (PE) with a grimace on his face and proceeded to talk about it in terms of deep disdain. His narrative was that as recruiters, we should avoid PE-owned broker-dealers and instead funnel our candidates to the safety and stability of an insurance-owned broker-dealer. In a twist of fate, a PE firm now owns this broker-dealer. I have to assume that this BD president has done a 180-degree turn...