Articles / Resources

Schorsch Snaps Up J.P. Turner as Buying Spree Continues

19:46 19 January in In the News by rafferty

January 14, 2014 by Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor But being both a broker-dealer and a product distributor can be a ‘hot potato,’ says one industry expert Billionaire Nicholas Schorsch and other managers at RCS Capital Corp. (RCAP) know how to get mergers and acquisitions done before the long Martin Luther King Day weekend. The group announced plans to buy the independent broker-dealer J.P. Turner of Atlanta for $27 million, one day after reporting plans to buy Cetera Financial Group for $1.15 billion. J.P. Turner has about 400 financial advisors and 50 insurance agents, according to the latest Investment Advisor survey, vs. 6,600 advisors at Cetera. The deal “represents another important step in realizing RCAP’s strategic vision to become the leading financial-services firm focused on the direct-investment sector,” Schorsch, who is executive chairman of RCAP, said in the...

Southwest Securities could be sold to big shareholder

23:04 10 January in In the News by rafferty

By Bruce Kelly January 10, 2014 Investment News Parent company SWS Group receives $7-a-share offer from Hilltop Holdings SWS Group Inc., the parent company of Southwest Securities Inc., on Friday confirmed that its board had received a takeover bid from one of its biggest investors, Hilltop Holdings Inc. Hilltop, which owns a bank, a mortgage lender and another financial services firm, First Southwest Co., already owns 24% of SWS common stock. Its offer is to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of SWS that it doesn't already own for $7 a share, a 16% premium over the stock's closing price on Thursday. “Consistent with its fiduciary duties and in consultation with its financial and legal advisers, SWS Group's board of directors will review the proposal to determine the course of action that it believes is in...

Is the Grass Really Greener?

16:33 06 January in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

by Jon Henschen December 23, 2013 ThinkAdvisor and the 2014 Career Guide issue of Investment Advisor When reps are considering changing broker-dealers, they want answers to these nine common questions Recruiters like myself often get questions from broker-dealer reps considering a move that begin, “Is it normal that my broker-dealer…?” Broker-dealers can be notorious for giving advisors answers that smack of corporate clichés such as, “We’re making these changes to be in line with our competitors” or “Regulators are requiring us to make these changes.” We thought it would be useful to bring to light nine common questions we, as recruiters, get from reps as they try to solve the puzzles of costs, company policies and supervision. 1: Our BD passes through 12b-1 trails on mutual funds in advisory accounts with non-qualified assets, but...

Are Brokers Greedy Scumbags?

22:50 11 December in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

by Jon Henschen December 11, 2013 featured on ThinkAdvisor A recent financial news program highlighted a comedy competition held at Gotham Comedy Club in New York called “Funniest Person in Finance.” One of the standout comedians was a financial advisor, Greg Cantone. When commenting about all the complaints there are about how people in finance make a lot of money, Cantone announced, “Well I’ve got news for you Gotham…we do!” Cantone offers no apology for making a good living. He takes aim at other high-end professionals, everyone from nurses to NFL kickers, for example, “You never hear anyone complain about them making a lot of money, do you? The man kicks a leather meatloaf… with his foot… once a week! But if for some reason, I help a family plan their retirement, send...