In the News

Surprise Suitor Emerging in Sale of Woodbury

17:01 20 July in In the News by rafferty

July 19, 2012 by Bruce Kelly, Investment News Sources say AIG's Advisor Group one of four potential buyers for The Hartford's indie B-D; past connections cited The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is close to announcing a buyer for its independent broker-dealer, Woodbury Financial Services Inc., according to several sources outside the firm but close to its brokers. Indeed, announcement of a deal for the 1,600 registered representatives and financial advisers is expected before the B-D's national sales conference in mid-August, industry recruiters said. The Hartford said in March it intends to sell Woodbury, along with a number of other noncore businesses, as part of a broad restructuring. According to industry sources, four firms are in the running for Woodbury, which generated $253.7 million in gross revenue last year. Three of the potential acquirers — Ladenburg Thalmann Financial...

Newbridge Securities in Regulators’ Sights, Again

22:53 18 July in In the News by rafferty

WealthManagement.com July 18, 2012 Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, the state securities regulator, is investigating Ft. Lauderdale broker/dealer Newbridge Securities, wealthmanagement.com has learned. It’s just the latest in a long trail of regulatory woe for Newbridge, whose executives and brokers have fallen afoul of securities laws repeatedly since the firm started operating in 2000. The broker/dealer has a little over 200 reps, each of which is required to generate a minimum of $80,000 in trailing 12-month commissions, according to its website. The firm reported revenues of $39 million and a net loss of $390,983 in 2011, a March filing with the Securities Exchange Commission shows. The Florida state regulator confirmed that it has a case open on the firm, based on customer complaints, but could not discuss the case further or release the complaints....

Making Way for Breakaways

18:33 18 July in In the News by rafferty

July 15, 2012 by Dan Jamieson, Investment News One of the challenges breakaway brokers face is maintaining the commission-based business they keep when they move to a fee-based model. That's why accommodating the securities business of breakaway brokers is critical for custodial firms that want to capture fee-based assets. And it's why so-called RIA-friendly broker-dealers, which work with independent RIA firms, have enjoyed solid growth. Cambridge Investment Research Inc., perhaps the granddaddy of the RIA-friendly niche, went from around $2 million in revenue with little fee business 20 years ago to $21 million in revenue today, 55% of it derived from a share of advisory fees. The firm's advisers handle $44 billion in total, $23 billion of which is fee-based. “We rode that [hybrid] wave,” said Cambridge chief executive Eric Schwartz. “We supported any business...