sidebar

Connect: 888-821-8107

Connect: 319-210-7700

Articles / Resources

ThinkAdvisor logo

Which BDs Are Weakest, Strongest in Bad Markets?

15:32 25 September in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

September 24, 2020 By Jon Henschen, ThinkAdvisor When advisors shop for a new broker-dealer, the thought of bear market vulnerability is rarely on their radar — but it should be. Between 1926 and 2017, we’ve experienced eight bear markets. Their duration ranged from six months to 2.8 years, while the severity of the decline varied from about 22% to an 83% drop in the S&P 500. The 1973-1974 stock market crash was an especially deep correction, with the market losing over 45% of its value. (The crash came after the collapse of both the Bretton Woods system and the Smithsonian Agreement, causing deep dollar devaluation.) For broker dealers, the 1973-1974 crash was extremely tough. As Raymond James explains on its website, “During the economic downturn of 1973 and 1974, with the survival of the firm...

ThinkAdvisor logo

What Do Raymond James’ Layoffs Mean for Advisor Recruiting?

14:52 21 September in In the News by rafferty

September 16, 2020 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor Raymond James is trimming close to 4% of its workforce of 13,900 employees in and outside the U.S. — or roughly 500 positions. But will the firm, which has over 8,100 advisors and added a net 251 in the past year, see any impact from the move on its recruiting efforts — including the transition packages it offers? “It’s part of an overall industry trend,” said Mark Elzweig, an executive search consultant based in New York, about the job cuts. Raymond James’ announcement Tuesday about layoffs followed similar news from Wells Fargo and Citigroup, which had paused layoffs earlier this year due to pandemic and recently resumed them. Worldwide, some 64,000 positions have been eliminated at banks so far this year, according to Bloomberg, which estimates that close to...

AdvisorHUB logo

LPL Raises Curtain on New Employee Channel

16:51 19 August in In the News by rafferty

August 5, 2020 By Mason Braswell, AdvisorHub LPL Financial, the largest provider of brokerage services sold through independent contractors, has unveiled a new “channel” for brokers who want to join as employees with more support from the company than their fully independent colleagues. In return for firm-provided technology, office space, benefits and back-office services, brokers who want “ownership of their book of business” but are willing to keep a smaller percentage of fees and commissions can receive grid-based payouts of 50% to 70%, LPL said Wednesday. (The top number requires annual production of at least $5 million.) The payout is lower than the 80% to 92% that independent brokers typically retain, but higher than the 25%-50% range available at most employee-model firms that also provide a wide range of products, research and other services...

Wealth Management logo

Taking the Mystery Out of Going Fee-Only

22:33 18 August in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

August 14, 2020 By Jon Henschen, WealthManagement.com   The biggest threat to the independent broker/dealer space is the number of advisors going fee-only. Here are some of the costs and considerations for advisors taking that step. There are two mounting threats to the independent broker/dealer (IBD) channel’s sustainability. The first is the number of advisors retiring, with too few new advisors entering the field to fill those vacancies. The second threat, and even more concerning to the broker/dealers, is the number of advisors choosing to go fee-only. As the SEC’s adoption of RegBI makes doing transactional business increasingly difficult, numerous broker/dealers are positioning themselves more as RIAs and less as broker/dealers. We’ve had an increasing volume of discussions with advisors who are at the crossroads of: “When is it appropriate to get my own RIA?”...