In the News

You Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste

00:00 01 July in In the News by rafferty

by John Sullivan and featured in Boomer Market Advisor July, 2010: It’s good to be Jon Henschen. The founder and president of Henschen and Associates, a broker/dealer recruiting firm in the independent channel, is having his best year ever - even more so than 2009. “I’ve been placing a of lot high-dollar groups looking to make a change with new firms,” he says. “With certain broker/dealers completely dissolving and others in regulatory trouble, it shows little sign of slowing.” Little sign of slowing. That’s the key phrase. While last year is considered the high-water mark for recruitment at many broker/dealers, the flux is far from over. Initial public offerings; firm dissolutions; legislative and regulatory action; name changes. As one salty Obama administration official put it,...

Former AIG Executive Gruber Back in B-D Business

00:00 01 June in In the News by rafferty

by Bruce Kelly and featured in Investment News June, 2010: Joseph B. “Joby” Gruber, the former CEO of AIG broker-dealer FSC Securities Corp. who was forced to resign after Finra accused him of allowing an underling to take continuing-education exams in his name, is back in the independent broker-dealer business. After a two-year hiatus mandated by his non-compete agreement with American International Group Inc., Mr. Gruber, 51, has been hired by American Portfolios Financial Services Inc., a fast-growing broker-dealer that recently had success recruiting brokers from another AIG broker-dealer, SagePoint Financial. “Joby was very good with rep relations,” said Jonathan Henschen, an industry recruiter. “He brought strong continuity and stability to the firm.” Mr. Gruber will be president of national sales and marketing, and a ...

Swell in 401(k) specialists’ seeking out ‘progressive’ broker-dealers

00:00 01 May in In the News by rafferty

by Darla Mercado and featured in Investment News May, 2010: Advisers lining up new home bases ahead of reg changes Advisers who specialize in the 401(k) market have been switching broker-dealers in search of firms they feel are better equipped to handle their growing business — and new government pension regulations. Proposed rules from the Labor Department, including heightened fee disclosures and restrictions on who can provide advice to plan participants, are placing additional regulatory scrutiny on advisers and brokers who work with retirement plans. Some major broker-dealers and wirehouses have started to accommodate advisers who want to be fiduciaries. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has entered the fray, promoting alternative-asset funds and designing target date funds that provide guaranteed income to grab a bigger piece of the $2.7 trillion 401(k) market. Nevertheless, recruiters say 401(k)...