In the News

RIA Assets Jumped 12.6% in 2014: IAA/NRS Study

19:36 16 October in In the News by rafferty

October 15, 2014 By Melanie Waddell, ThinkAdvisor   While most advisors are small businesses, top 1% of advisors manage more than 52% of total AUM, report says Regulatory assets held by advisors registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission increased by $6.9 trillion (12.6%) in 2014 to $61.7 trillion from the $54.8 trillion held last year, with the top 1% of advisors managing more than 52% of that total, according to the Investment Adviser Association and National Regulatory Services' Evolution/Revolution report, released Tuesday. In their 14th annual report based on Form ADV, Part 1 data filed by all SEC-registered advisors as of April 7, IAA and NRS also found that the total number of SEC-registered advisors increased from 10,533 in April 2013 to 10,895 in April 2014. While these advisors employ more than 700,000 persons and serve almost...

FINRA’s Big-Brokerage Loyalty Revealed in New Bonus Plan: Lawyer

23:16 22 September in In the News by rafferty

September 22, 2014 By Melanie Waddell, ThinkAdvisor   New plan requires recruiting firms to provide a FINRA-created educational communication to former retail customers of a transferring rep The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issued for public comment on Friday a proposal that curtails its earlier draft rule requiring, in most cases, disclosure of recruitment bonuses and incentives. The proposal would require recruiting firms to provide a FINRA-created educational communication to former retail customers of a transferring representative who are considering transferring assets to the rep's new firm. Patrick Burns, a lawyer for breakaway brokers, says that the proposed FINRA-created communication would highlight the potential implications of transferring assets to the new firm and suggest questions the customer may want to ask to make an informed decision. “Among other things, the suggested questions relate to the costs the customer...

Ladenburg Thalmann to buy Securities Service Network for $45M

23:04 22 September in In the News by rafferty

September 22, 2014 By Bruce Kelly, Investment News   Latest addition will give firm's indie B-D network 4,000 advisers and almost $1.1 billion in annual revenue Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services announced Monday that it had agreed to buy Securities Service Network Inc., known as SSN, which has close to 450 independent reps and advisers and produced $114.2 million in total revenue last year. In a statement, Ladenburg Thalmann said it would pay $45 million in cash and stock for SSN, or 39.4% of annual revenue. That valuation, while not as high as some of the recent offers by Nicholas Schorsch and RCS Capital Corp., is in the historic upper range for such deals. SSN is currently owned by a trust, the David L. and Patricia B. Coffey Descendants Trust. Following the completion of the SSN acquisition and other...