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by Jonathan Henschen, CFS and featured in ProducersWeb November, 2006: It would be delusional to think a single broker/dealer can meet the needs of all advisors. Because we see such vastly differing needs among advisors, it's fortunate there is such a wide variety...
by Jonathan Henschen, CFS and featured in ProducersWeb October, 2006: Since January, 2006, I’ve been caught in a whirlwind of activity centered on Equity-Indexed Annuities (EIAs). Advisor after advisor have contacted me looking for a broker/dealer that takes a friendlier approach to this area of their business that at one time, was not of any concern to broker/dealers. The debate swirling around EIAs is confusing and comes with widely varying opinions. One day I’ll be speaking with a broker/dealer who assures me EIA’s are going to be declared securities; the next day another broker/dealer will be just as confident that will never happen. From the broker/dealers’ perspective, I would think the reality of EIA’s becoming securities would make them cringe. If they were declared securities, they run the risk of all the previous...
by Bruce Kelly and featured in Investment News September, 2006: Pacific Select Group, LLC, in an internal email to its network of registered representatives and advisors last Monday, dismissed rumors of a merger with Linsco/Private Ledger Corp. which according to numerous industry insiders, had been courting broker/dealers aggressively. But any deal involving the two may yet happen, one industry recruiter said. ‘On a mission’ Pacific Select’s five-sentence denial in the internal e-mail of an immediate deal with Linsco of Boston and San Diego was a clear indication of the former’s desirability and the latter’s voraciousness, observers say. In the e-mail, Pacific Select conceded that it had been approached about a sale. “LPL is on a mission. It has an insatiable appetite for expansion,” said Larry Papike, president of Cross-Search, a Jamul, Calif., recruiting and placement firm...
by Bruce Kelly and featured in Investment News August, 2006: New York - Jeff Auld, who has played a pivotal role in establishing NEXT Financial Group Inc. as one of the nation's fastest-growing independent broker-dealers, is leaving to join rival Berthel Fisher & Company Financial Services Inc. Mr. Auld, who is president of Houston-based NEXT Financial Group, will depart Aug. 31 to become president of Berthel Fisher in Marion, Iowa. Mr. Auld, 48, joined NEXT Financial Group in 2000 and is credited with almost single-handedly driving its growth, largely through his ability to recruit new representatives. His impending departure comes as NEXT Financial Group, like many other independent-contractor broker-dealers, is scrambling to find an executive to lead its recruiting efforts (InvestmentNews, Aug. 7). Gordon D'Angelo, chairman and CEO of NEXT Financial Group Holding Co., will...