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Securities America warns of service slowdown as consolidation begins

19:37 22 July in In the News by rafferty

July 22, 2020 By Bruce Kelly, Investment News Advisers are experiencing "longer than usual wait times," according to a memo Securities America Inc., one of the major broker-dealers in the burgeoning Advisor Group network, on Monday morning warned its advisers of longer than usual times to deal with advisers’ phone calls as it begins a major merger. The notice regarding slowdowns in services comes as the firm is in the process of absorbing 1,200 advisers from Advisor Group’s recent acquisition of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. Snafus in technology or service, irritating and at times infuriating to financial advisers, are common during large broker-dealer mergers. Advisor Group said in May it was going to shut down three of the Ladenburg firms and move those advisers over the summer onto the platform of Securities America, the...

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Some new Advisor Group reps staring at reduced pay grid

19:44 23 June in In the News by rafferty

June 23, 2020 By Bruce Kelly, Investment News Any cuts to payout will be offset by tools and technology, according to the broker-dealer Some reps and advisers who formerly worked at Ladenburg Thalmann broker-dealers are looking at potentially reduced payouts as they make the shift later this year to integration into the Advisor Group network, which in February completed its $1.3 billion acquisition of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. For example, advisers must generate much more revenue at Securities America Inc. — $750,000 — to see a payout of 95% of each dollar in sales he or she generates, according to industry executives. Payout at Securities America falls to 92% of sales below that amount. That means advisers at Securities Service Network, known as SSN and one of the broker-dealers scheduled to be merged into...

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Has Schwab Won the RIA War?

19:53 10 June in In the News by rafferty

June 10, 2020 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor Consolidation is everywhere, but new options for RIAs are rapidly emerging, Joel Bruckenstein and others say. Charles Schwab received lots of good news last week, with the Justice Department and shareholders approving its $26 billion merger with rival TD Ameritrade. The firms, which collectively work with more than 10,000 RIAs and $5 trillion, should come together by year-end. The technology and related integration, though, requires 18 to 36 months. The industry was “pretty much expecting this outcome, so it’s not a big surprise to anyone,” said Tim Welsh, head of the consultancy Nexus Strategy. “However, it does remove uncertainty, so we expect to see RIAs affiliated with TD Ameritrade ramp up their search and inquiries for a new custodian, particularly smaller firms who fear a lower service level and...

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Breaking Bad Broker-Dealer Behaviors

15:10 04 June in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

June 3, 2020 By Jon Henschen, ThinkAdvisor Some IBDs are targeting advisors set to depart by playing hardball; here's a look at five specific tactics these firms are using. When I formed our recruiting firm in 2001, we recruited advisors not only to independent broker-dealers but also to regional broker-dealers and wirehouse firms. After six months, we made a conscientious decision to narrow our focus to recruiting to just IBDs. We enjoyed conversing with staff with independent broker- dealers and their advisors, who tended to be more entrepreneurial and displayed a substantially lower “ego factor.” Working with IBDs was far less corporate — meaning more streamlined and less bureaucratic. In other words, working with them was a delight. Having worked as a broker in the ‘90s at both Prudential Securities and Merrill Lynch, I found it to...