Articles Written by Jon Henschen

That Which Seems Intuitive Is Often Wrong

17:02 25 January in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

February 2013 by Jonathan Henschen and featured in Investment Advisor Experience shows that reality is often less obvious than your intuition would lead you to believe One of my summertime readings was John Stossel’s book, “No They Can’t: Why Government Fails—But Individuals Succeed.” Stossel, a journalist, Fox cable network host and avid libertarian, delves into a multitude of examples of how we intuitively run to government to solve problems. In Stossel’s book, he argues that we should abandon our beliefs that a government can cure all national ills and instead “retrain our brains to look at only the facts, to rethink our lives as independent individuals—and fast.” As I read through Stossel’s take on some of our social issues and why our intuitions about them are wrong, it was apparent to me that there are many similarities...

6 Overlooked Criteria for Broker-Dealer Due Diligence

21:57 24 October in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

November 2012 by Jon Henschen and featured in Investment Advisor When investigating a new broker-dealer, you may not be looking at the following criteria—but you should Illustrations by Shaw Nielsen It’s not surprising that when the majority of registered reps look to change their broker-dealer, they tend to focus on short-term factors and immediate satisfaction. Quick relief in the form of better technology and payout, ticket charges, expenses and transition support can be very attractive. However, focusing on the long-term benefits will go a lot further in securing a new broker-dealer relationship that will last. Here are six criteria worth investigating to help ensure that when you make a broker-dealer change, it’s the right one. 1. Check the firm’s profitability and financials. Since the 2008 market downturn, the bottom line comes down to, “Is the firm consistently profitable?” Average...

Woodbury-Advisor Group Deal: A Recruiter’s Perspective

00:01 04 August in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

August 3, 2012 by Jon Henschen and featured on AdvisorOne Insight into what will happen next As far as acquisition matches go, the purchase of Woodbury by AIG can turn out to be one of the better retention purchases by the insurance giant. To be sure, the AIG story will be carefully edited so it’s one that will entice as well as bringing a feeling of security.  Many positives exist with this acquisition but wrinkles are always lurking beneath the surface. Woodbury will probably experience very good retention with their reps, primarily due to retention bonuses already paid, but also for the following: No paperwork in making the change More retention money probably coming RVP’s working hard to talk up the new owner (they are paid bonuses for the reps taking retention bonuses) AIG promising to plug in their technology...