sidebar

Connect: 319-210-7700

Connect: 319-210-7700

In the News

Financial Planning logo

With ‘Project Evolution’ complete, Waddell & Reed IBD pivots to growth

16:19 24 May in In the News by rafferty

May 23, 2019 By Tobias Salinger, FinancialPlanning Financial advisor Cheryl Marquez says her independent broker-dealer of 30 years deserves a closer look from an industry that may have missed what’s going on at Waddell & Reed. “We're going to be that hidden gem,” says the San Francisco Bay Area-based Marquez, the chairwoman of the IBD’s 2018 president’s council for its top advisors. “We're not what you think. When people start to figure that out, I think that’s going to be a very big draw.” The IBD’s fund company parent — as well as headlines about its shrinking advisor headcount — complicate its overhaul, Marquez admits. Recruiter Jon Henschen also says Waddell & Reed’s efforts to retain assets from departing advisors make it more of a captive firm than an indie. But the camaraderie and community...

Financial Advisor IQ a Financial Times Service

Kestra Makes Big Play to Buy Books of Business From Retiring Advisors

21:16 23 May in In the News by rafferty

May 23, 2019 By Mrinalini Krishna, Financial Advisor IQ Kestra Financial is looking to buy out books of retiring high-producing advisors, both within and outside of its network. Kestra CEO James Poer says that while the strategy had its origins in the thinking of its previous owner, NFP, it is a focus this year “that will build a large national wealth management business that focuses on serving the succession needs of independent wealth management firms.” Kestra currently has about 10 firms and an aggregate $3.5 billion in assets that it has accumulated in this channel. The strategy looks at buying assets of advisors with at least $2 million in topline revenue, and Poer says in 2019 the firm is looking to close another five to eight deals. “I think in terms of earnings, that...

Wealth Management logo

New B/D IFP Is Swimming Against the Current; Will More Firms Follow?

20:46 23 May in In the News by rafferty

May 23, 2019 By Diana Britton, WealthManagement.com At a time when smaller broker/dealers are closing down, IFP is on a reverse course, registering its own brokerage with only a couple hundred advisors so far. But the economics are beginning to make more sense, and the move represents a viable option for nimble, entrepreneurial advisors who want to control their own destiny. Over the last several years, we’ve seen a number of small independent broker/dealers close and withdraw their registrations, often due to what they say are growing administrative and regulatory burdens. Conventional wisdom says that in the wealth management space, scale increasingly matters, and smaller players find it hard to compete. In many cases, the principals of those small shops moved on to larger firms, bringing their advisors with them and often joining as offices of supervisory jurisdiction (OSJ). But Independent...