Articles / Resources

The Small, Generalist Broker-Dealer: R.I.P.?

16:29 10 April in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

by Jon Henschen April 10, 2014, as featured on ThinkAdvisor On July 18,  the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing regarding “Regulatory Burdens: The Impact of Dodd Frank on Community Banks.” In her testimony, Wake Forest University Professor Tanya Marsh discussed how “Dodd-Frank builds on decades of ‘one-size-fits-all’ regulation of financial institutions, an ill-conceived regulatory framework that puts community banks at a competitive disadvantage to their larger, more complex competitors.” In her testimony, Marsh argued that “The imposition of regulatory burdens on community banks without attendant benefits ultimately harms both consumers and the economy by: 1) forcing community banks to consolidate or go out of business, furthering the concentration of assets in a small number of mega-financial institutions, and 2) encouraging standardization of financial products, leaving millions of vulnerable borrowers...

Berthel Fisher has new lease on life

15:45 07 April in In the News by rafferty

by Bruce Kelly April 4, 2014,  Investment News Legal settlement means it might be clear of DBSI-related claims Since the credit crisis, the financial advice industry has been littered with the dead shells of independent broker-dealers that sold fraudulent private placements before the crash. DeWaay Financial Network Inc., GunnAllen Financial Inc., QA3 Financial Corp. and dozens of others all ran short of capital in the wake of a cascade of investor litigation, stemming from the sale of the phony or suspect deals. Indeed, 43 of the 92 broker-dealers that sold tenant-in-common exchanges – real estate deals known as TICs – sponsored by the defunct DBSI Inc. are no longer in business, according to an InvestmentNews analysis. A staggering amount, 47%, of broker-dealers that sold DBSI TICs have been closed or merged. But Berthel Fisher & Co. Financial Services Inc., one of...

IBD Regulation: Broken Windows, Broken System

21:37 11 March in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

by Jon Henschen March 11, 2014, as featured on ThinkAdvisor At the Financial Services Institute OneVoice conference in late January,  FSI President and CEO Dale Brown set the stage for things to come by commenting on the intentions of SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White. White is the first to assume the SEC chair with a background as a federal prosecutor and securities lawyer, and her priorities reflect this litigation bent. She intends to usher in a period of rigorous enforcement, with a key component to that enforcement being the application of the “Broken Window Theory.” The thinking behind “broken windows” is that no crime is too small to garner the attention of the cop on the beat, including acts such as vandals throwing rocks through windows. As the theory goes, when a window...

What hurt LPL’s recruiting recently? Old Man Winter

16:45 08 March in In the News by rafferty

March 7, 2014, By Bruce Kelly,  Investment News Adviser growth also slowed by a bank group departure, market volatility, indie B-D powerhouse says LPL Financial has suffered a recruiting slowdown in the first quarter and puts part of the blame on an unusual factor — this winter's rough weather. In an investor presentation posted on the company's website Thursday, LPL said that its “adviser pipeline for 2014 remains healthy but [first-quarter] momentum slowed in part due to disruptive weather.” Net new financial adviser growth has also been influenced by the departure of a bank with 40 registered representatives and advisers, according to the presentation, which was made at the Bernstein Financials Summit Conference in Boston. Along with bad weather, broad stock market volatility also had a negative impact on LPL's recruiting in the first quarter, spokeswoman Betsy...