Articles Written by Jon:

• Should You Be a Big Fish in a Small or Large Pond?
• Retirement Is Overrated for Many Advisors
• 3 Ways RIA's Without a BD Have an Edge
• Maybe the Workplace Needs Political Neutrality
• The Threat to LBO Private Equity-Backed IBD's
• BD Deals: When Do Advisors Win, Lose?
• Corporate Safety in Cities: Some Get it, Some Don't
• Is It The Right Time to Check Out These 4 BD's?
• How To Irritate Advisors: Tell Them Where to Invest
• Which Firms Are Really Driven by Financial Planning?
• Small Broker-Dealers' Secret Weapon
• Whose Fiduciary Standard Are You Using?
• The Downside Of B-D Counteroffers
• Equal Opportunity or Equal Outcome?
• 5 Reasons Going RIA Beats the IBD Model
• Price's Law And Large Broker-Dealers
• How Proprietary Advisory Platforms Conflict With Fiduciary Standards
• It's All Hands on Deck as BDs Enter Rougher Waters
• Regulation Turns Off Entrepreneurs From Pursuing The IBD Channel
• Don't Treat Others In The Workplace As Equals, Treat Them As Unique Individuals
• Regulations Throw Sand In The Gears Of Business
• The Trouble With Being a Big Advisor at a Small BD
• 4 Ways to Give Clients a 'Wow' Experience
• SPACs: Not So SPACtacular
• Why a Silicon Valley Advisor Became an RIA
• Why Broker-Dealer Forgivable Notes Aren’t (Really) Forgiven And Are Instead Ultimately Paid Back By Clients
• Which BDs Are Weakest, Strongest in Bad Markets?
• Taking the Mystery Out of Going Fee-Only
• Breaking Bad Broker-Dealer Behaviors
• Ex-Ladenburg BDs May Face Culture Clash
• Broker/Dealers on Recruiting in a Virtual World
• 10 Red Flags to Watch When Switching BDs
• Is Your Broker-Dealer a Doomsday Prepper?
• OpEd: The Market’s Immune System May Be Compromised
• White Paper: LBO Private Equity Makes Its Mark in the IBD Channel
• Broker/Dealers Speak Out on Regulatory Vexation
• Forced Equality Has a History of Genocidal Results
• Anatomy of a Fiduciary-Friendly Broker/Dealer
• The Dark Side of Broker-Dealer Scale: Pain for Advisors
• Small Producers Are Crazy, Large Producers Are Eccentric
• Highly Productive People: Which Political Systems Nurture Them, Which Crush Them?
• 4 Reasons Small BDs Are Under Pressure
• 5 Signs You Need to Switch Broker-Dealers
• Don’t Sell Your Business: Try Semi-Retirement
• Want to Connect Better? Try Dan Arnold's Technique
• What’s Behind the War on Variable Annuities?
• What Deutsche Bank Left Off Its List of 30 Market Risks
• Is New York City Entering a Pension Death Spiral like Chicago?
• What Advisors, BDs Should Do About Ohio National’s End of Trailing Commissions
• How Dan Arnold Is Driving Change at LPL
• Why the U.S. Must Become an 'Aspirational' Society Once Again
• The Dangers of Private Equity to Broker-Dealers and the Financial System
• What Ohio National's End of Annuity Trails Means for Advisors, BDs
• The Tragic Decline of Music Literacy (and Quality)
• How Advisors Can Negotiate a Better Recruiting Deal
• Why People in Hong Kong Have Incomes 5x Higher Than People in China's Richest Province
• Financial Advisor Survey Puts Underdog Broker/Dealer on Top
• Advisors Have Much to Gain With Broker-Dealer Arbitrage
• Why the Dollar’s Era of Dominance May Be Coming to an Abrupt End
• Avoid Guilt by Association
• How to Conquer Your Top Fear When Changing Broker Dealers: Client Retention
• Advisors, Be Afraid: Robots May Be Coming for Your Job
• Thomas Sowell: A Beacon of Reason in a Nonsensical World
• The Subtle ‘Tyranny’ of Regulatory Overlords
• The Herd vs. the Country Club: Which Mentality Is Right for You?
• What Boomers’ Retirement Means for the Advisor Industry
• Boomers to Cause Markets to Go Bust
• 100% Advisory Payouts & 7 Other ‘Heresies’
• How DOL Is Changing Sign-On Bonuses and Other Indie BD Procedures
• 5 Compliance Approaches That Chase Away Advisor Talent
• BD Back-Office Consolidation: Profit Bonanza or Service Boondoggle?
• Congress Got Schooled Once by a BD Owner; It Should Again
• Is Your Broker-Dealer in a Death Spiral? 4 Steps to Discovery
• The Chilling Effect of an Over-Zealous FINRA's Gibbeting
• Is Private Equity IBDs’ Savior or Sorcerer?
• Which Broker-Dealers Will Survive? Malcolm Gladwell Offers Some Answers
• How to Avoid Manager Absenteeism
• DOL Fiduciary Rule Will Accelerate Broker-Dealer Closings
• 4 Factors That May Cause a Flood of Broker-Dealer Sales
• Stock Jocks Get Their Knocks at BDs
• The Dumbing Down of the Financial Services Industry’s Future
• How Super OSJs Bring Innovation to Broker-Dealers
• An Overlooked Benefit of Going Independent: Quality of Life
• Three Hidden Broker-Dealer Profit Centers Exposed
• Are Privately Owned Broker-Dealers a Dying Breed?
• Our Human Capital Disaster: Three big trends will exacerbate the advisor talent shortage
• How to Tell When Broker-Dealers 'Jump the Shark'
• The Small, Generalist Broker-Dealer: R.I.P.?
• IBD Regulation: Broken Windows, Broken System
• Is the Grass Really Greener?
• Are Brokers Greedy Scumbags?
• Making Sense of the Nonsensical Broker Comp Rule
• E&O Insurance: Cost and Deductibles Skyrocket
• Is Your Broker-Dealer a Screaming Eagle or a Box Wine?
• 5 ‘Important’ IBDs
• Regulatory Scope Creep: a Look at the Five-Year Trend
• That Which Seems Intuitive Is Often Wrong
• 6 Overlooked Criteria for Broker-Dealer Due Diligence
• Woodbury-Advisor Group Deal: A Recruiter’s Perspective
• The Financial Advisor Balancing Act
• Finding the Right Safety Net
• 10 Steps to Bulletproof Your Practice
• The Decline of Insurance-Owned Broker-Dealers
• Top Five Reasons Advisors Change Broker/Dealer
• Making the Case for Midsized Broker-Dealers
• Six Broker-Dealer Red Flags
• Cutting Through The Advisory Clutter
• Wirehouse Waste vs. Independent Broker-Dealer Efficiency
• Recruiter Confidential: Exploring the Underbelly of Insurance Broker-Dealers
• 2009 Broker Dealer Winners and Losers: Who's on Top, Who Missed the Mark
• Gauging Broker-Dealer Service: How You Can, Why You Should
• How to Avoid Compliance Policies That Cater To the Lowest Denominator
• Making the Most of Home Office Visits
• Attracting High-End Advisors: Top Seven Recruiting Channels
• Transfer Time - When Decoding B/D Transfer Options, Don’t Focus on The Money
• The Lasting Impact of Effective Broker/Dealer Stories
• Reality and Your Pipeline to Prosperity
• Steering Hooks
• Target Recruiting: Who Do You Want and Who Do They Want
• Relationship Building For Broker Dealer Recruiting
• B/Ds in the Year 2010-What Does the Future Hold in Store for Independent b/d's?
• Ten Steps Towards Creating A Flourishing Recruiting Environment
• Waiter, There's a Fly in My Soup! Looking for Nice People
• Top 5 reasons advisors stay at BDs. Creating “Hooks” to improve retention
• It's not what your say, but how you say it - and how well you listen!
• The Pros and Cons of Independent B/D Styles
• Broker/Dealer Options with EIAs
• Inquiring Minds Want to Know About Transition Money
• Broker/Dealer Expenses
• Outsourcing - Ways to Cut Overhead Expenses
• The Top 5 Reasons Advisors Change Broker-Dealers
• Seven Recruiting Sins
• Characteristics of Top Producers
• Strength in Numbers
• When Your Broker-Dealer Relationship Goes Bad
• Making the Most of Marketing Kits - Keeping them Informative and Simple
• How to Ruin a Good Broker/Dealer

Articles Jon is Quoted In:

• Adam Antoniades Likely to Step Down as Cetera CEO by Year-End
• What the Broker-Dealer Industry Looks Like Now, in 5 Charts
• FINRA: Broker numbers up for first time in years
• Ex-Cetera branch manager wins $500K over breakdown of M&A deal
• Texas Trio Launches RIA With 'Precedent'-Setting Profit-Sharing Program
• Boston B/D Cantella Shutters, Joins Cambridge as Super OSJ
• Advisor Group Says It's Considering New Name
• Cetera to advisors: Selling your practice requires our OK
• Cetera warns broker that M&A deals require its approval
• Kestra's debt is soaring. How will that affect its advisor recruiting?
• IBD LaSalle St. Sells Equity to Affiliated Advisors
• Independent Cetera team fighting Avantax 'trade secret' lawsuit
• Advisor Group branch manager prevails in messy recruiting dispute
• Securian and Cetera generated $2.93 billion in combined annual revenue in 2021
• Federal proposal to ban noncompete clauses could affect RIA M&A
• Cetera Closes Broker-Dealer First Allied Securities
• Cetera Keeps First Allied Brand After BD Closure
• Cetera Shutters First Allied Registration, Brand
• Advisor Group Adjusts Rep Fees
• Are independent wealth managers that punish exiting financial advisors really independent?
• Kestra Sells Minority to Private Equity Firm Oak Hill Capitol
• Is a Great FINRA Purge Coming?
• What Kind of Acquiror Will Advisor Group Be?
• Embattled brokerage argues SEC copied a FINRA case
• Advisor Group Raises $500M in Debt for B/D Acquisitions
• B/D Aggregator Wentworth to Go Public Via Kingswood SPAC
• Lead Broker-Dealer Seller of GWG Bonds Reports Potential Trouble
• Raymond James Launches Corporate RIA for Fee-Only Advisors
• Avantax Boosts Recruiting Bonus to Add Advisers
• Fee Revenue Surged at the Largest IBD's Last Year
• The Big Blur
• The Big Mistake That Leaves Advisors Open to Lawsuits
• Why IBD's Are Changing Their Recruiting Deals
• Commonwealth, LPL Now Using Asset Levels, Not Production Rates, to Calculate Recruiting Deals
• New Study Links Private Equity Ownership to Advisor Misconduct
• ‘Upfront Money Should Be a Spice, Not a Main Course’: Recruiter Jon Henschen
• Midsize wealth manager allegedly missed assistant’s fraud for 7 years
• With the rise of RIAs, recruiters must change their game
• FINRA's New 'Restricted Firm' Plan is on it's Way
• At sketchy brokerages, FINRA is now part of HR
• Three Ways Regulators Throw Advisors Under the Bus
• Midsize firm ProEquities picks custodian’s BD over its own
• Berthel Fischer sees sharp decline in commissions, turns to building RIA
• Upstart IBD’s headcount is up 24%, production up 60% since launch
• LPL Expands Custodial Service for Fee-Only Advisors
• Robinhood is snapping up financial advisers. Here’s why.
• In face of pandemic, IBDs proved resilient in 2020
• IBDs Navigate The Pandemic
• Thomas H. Lee Partners Wants an Independent Broker/Dealer
• Amidst Proxy Battle, Avantax Adds to Executive Team
• Waddell & Reed to Slash More Than 200 Jobs Following LPL Deal
• Commonwealth Financial to recruiters: Lay off MassMutual reps
• Recruiting Loans Climb at Ameriprise, LPL
• Midsize Advisor Group IBD SagePoint taps head recruiter as next CEO
• LPL’s M&A Program Goes Live
• S&P: Voya Deal Does Not Impact Cetera Credit Rating
• Cetera Adds 900 Advisors, $40B in AUM in Voya Deal
• With Voya Deal, Cetera Nears ‘Critical Mass’ to Go Public: Recruiter
• Atria to buy a $4B firm using growth capital
• Atria Purchases California's SCF, Reaches $95B In Assets Under Administration
• Advisor Group Taps Erinn Ford to Lead Advisor Engagement
• Atria Wealth Solutions Buying SCF
• Will Commonwealth’s new breakaway services reel in recruits?
• Hightower Sees New Opportunity in IBD-Affiliated Firms
• Midsize IBD to make its first $1B acquisition
• Commonwealth Launches Enhanced Support Offering for Breakaways
• Cetera Acquires Super OSJ BAR Financial
• Advisor Group, Cetera Face Heavy Debt, Big Risks
• Will a Wealth Management SPAC Succeed?
• Avantax Wealth Management Launches New Affiliation, Referral Businesses
• Advisor Group still facing hurdles on debt: Fitch Ratings
• Why LPL's Waddell & Reed Deal Is a Big Score for Both Sides
• Robert Moore Returns to LPL as CEO of Private Advisor Group
• LPL OSJ Aims to Lure Wirehouse Breakaways by Covering Moving Costs
• Securities America loses top executive to Carson Group
• Recapitalization? SPACs? Cetera’s PE backer shares long-term plans
• Avantax imposes new fee on held-away accounts
• Cambridge buys small broker-dealer with $4 billion in assets
• What Do Raymond James' Layoffs Mean for Advisor Recruiting?
• LPL Raises Curtain on New Employee Channel
• Securities America warns of service slowdown as consolidation begins
• Some new Advisor Group reps staring at reduced pay grid
• Has Schwab Won the RIA War?
• 1,400 advisors on the move as Advisor Group merges 3 IBDs into Securities America
• IBD Berthel Fisher in Talks to Sell to Cetera
• Retaining Advisory Talent Amid a Cash Crunch
• Advisor Group’s BD Consolidation a ‘Sign of the Times’
• Wells Fargo earnings point to a tough 2020
• Be Careful of Leveraged B-Ds Like Cetera, Advisor Group: Recruiters
• Private equity owners of IBDs will be tested during the downturn
• FA Hiring Amid Pandemic: More of a Pause than a Standstill
• Advisor Group Nabs LPL Exec to Lead Wealth Unit
• Vern Coates Joins Independent Broker Dealer Recruiter Henschen & Associates as Senior Vice President of Business Development
• Which Indie B-Ds Are Winning the Recruiting Wars (And Why)
• Rising Loan Levels Reflect Big Recruiting Push At Stifel, LPL
• LPL Financial spends big on recruiting in 2019
• B-D Recruiters Poised to Scoop Up Unhappy FAs in Mega-Merger Fallout
• As Voya Financial sells off insurance groups, attention turns to its broker-dealer
• Advisor retention under spotlight after Advisor Group-Ladenburg deal
• Will the Lull in Advisor Recruiting Last?
• Cetera Taps Antoniades as CEO
• Atria Scoops Up IBD With Turnkey Model
• Schwab-TD Ameritrade Deal Is No Sure Thing
• Schwab to Buy TD Ameritrade for $26B: Report
• Advisor Group-Ladenburg Deal Aims to Nip Advisor Dissent In The Bud
• Advisor Group, Ladenburg Union Creates 'LPL Alternative'
• No bonuses to advisers in Ladenburg Thalmann, Advisor Group deal
• Advisor Group to Acquire Ladenburg in $1.3 Billion Deal
• Controversial adviser Ed Butowsky launches broker-dealer aimed at smaller breakaways
• Advisor Group, Cetera Financial seen as potential buyers of Ladenburg Thalmann
• Ladenburg Thalmann Exploring Sale: Report
• Ladenburg Thalmann Is on the Block
• Zero Commissions a 'Huge Deal' for Advisors, BDs: Henschen
• HD Vest, 1st Global Brands to Die as Blucora Combines the B/Ds
• Are Advisors Giving Up Some Degree of Independence? Firms and Recruiters Disagree
• Cetera Financial Group adds 1,000 advisers, $19 billion in assets so far in 2019
• Why Fewer But Bigger Advisors Are Switching Firms This Year
• Small Producers at Advisor Group Won't Get Retention Bonuses
• Broker-Dealers Go Courting
• How Will Schwab's USAA Deal Affect Advisors?
• Raymond James Plans Big Play to Keep RIA-Bound Advisors
• LPL Financial push for employee model attempt to tap into $11 trillion market
• LPL Cuts ETF Fees for RIAs
• With ‘Project Evolution’ complete, Waddell & Reed IBD pivots to growth
• Kestra Makes Big Play to Buy Books of Business From Retiring Advisors
• New B/D IFP Is Swimming Against the Current; Will More Firms Follow?
• LPL Looks Beyond Indie Roots with New Employee Channel
• Advisor Group CEO Opens Up About Reverence Deal, Brown's Departure
• LPL to Implement a New Model to Attract Employee Advisors
• In a challenged sector, how one IBD is navigating a barrage of changes
• Finra guidance could help departing reps hang onto clients
• Why Advisor Transition Loans are Impacting Recruitment in a Big Way
• NFP Buys Bronfman Rothschild, Betting Big on RIA Growth
• Tampa-Based IBD to Absorb Zombie Firm
• HD Vest Parent to Acquire 1st Global
• Nuisance Fines are Hurting Small B-Ds and Driving Consolidation, Warn Experts
• Cetera pledges growth investments after surprise CEO exit — not cutbacks
• Woodbury Adds 64% of Questar Reps, 86% of AUM
• Warburg-Kestra deal signals challenges ahead
• What Kestra's Warburg Pincus Deal Means for Its Future
• Why Advisors Left Wirehouses for B-Ds and Independents
• Moore's Exit Raises Deeper Questions at Cetera
• Look for more changes at Cetera Financial Group
• Focus on Credit Unions, Banks Helps Cetera Post Record Assets in '18
• Broker-Dealers to Make Big Push in 2019
• After 3-year search, advisor-owned IBD bets on scale in PE deal
• What's Next for Atria After Buying Next Financial?
• Eyes on Kestra: IBDs Are Still in High Demand
• Kestra BD Sale: Now or Never?
• LPL Lowers Pricing on Small 401(k) Platform
• Kestra CEO James Poer wants to set the record straight on private equity
• Cetera to retain about 25 advisors, $1B in client assets from departing OSJ
• LPL Drops Asset Minimum for New Reps, But ...
• With Questar-Woodbury Deal, What's Next for Insurance-Owned BDs?
• Cetera Financial Group selling stock to its advisers
• Ladenburg not dependent on ex-chairman’s capital for growth, CEO says
• FINRA's New Competency Exams a 'Significant' Event for Some BDs
• Wells Fargo Hits More Bumps
• Frost Out as Ladenburg Chairman
• LPL video about private equity looks like a swipe at Cetera
• As Scandals Keep Coming, Wells Fargo Names New FiNet Managers
• Cambridge Investment Research bags mid-sized broker-dealer
• Number of BDs, Reps Drops for Second Straight Year, New FINRA Report Says
• When Will Wells Fargo's Scandals End?
• FINRA Board OKs E-Signature, Custodian Proposals
• Cetera Plans Big Changes to Retention Bonuses
• After years of uncertainty, Cetera advisors see stability in Genstar deal
• Cetera brokers may go elsewhere with no stay bonuses on horizon
• Genstar Capital buys majority stake in Cetera Financial Group
• LPL’s Top Ranks Are a ‘Revolving Door,’ Recruiter Says
• How Advisor Group’s deal for Signator could reshape the IBD space
• LPL’s Blockchain Portfolio: Forward Thinking or Foolish?
• Cambridge ditches OSJ label amid fee-based shift, segmentation strategy
• Bill Hamm taps Pershing, lays groundwork for new IBD after LPL exit
• FINRA to Toughen Sanctions on Repeat Violators
• LPL Dinged Up to $26 Million Over Sales of Unregistered Securities
• LPL Will Launch No-Transaction-Fee Mutual Fund Platform
• Cambridge Advisors Added to LPL's Hit List
• LPL Woos FAs at Cambridge Investment Research
• LPL Targets Cetera, Securities America and Kestra Advisors with Aggressive Recruiting Package
• Van Law to Step Down as Head of Raymond James’ RIA Group
• Cetera sale talk another distraction for advisers
• Private equity likely buyer in Cetera sale
• If Finra eases firm oversight of outside business activities, broker-dealers could lose revenue
• Ron Carson openly poaches LPL advisors, seducing them with new tech
• Finra Warns B-Ds On Hiring Brokers With Spotty Records Living Large
• FINRA Plan to Rid BDs of Advisor Liability Would Hit Firms’ Fee Revenue
• With Pay Gap Shrinking, National, Regional B/Ds Surge
• LPL Wields Major, if Unglamorous, Recruiting Advantage
• Waddell & Reed sees ‘unprecedented change’ under new regime
• LPL Expects to Keep 70 Percent of NPH Advisors
• Newbridge Securities to be bought by foreign wealth management firm
• NPH advisors left with little time to make fraught LPL decision
• After LPL deal, $1.3B National Planning firm bolts for Commonwealth
• MetLife Slashes Annuity Pay to Former Advisors
• LPL Offers Retention Deals to NPH Advisors
• Tom Bradley’s Sad, but Unsurprising, Exit From TD Ameritrade
• MetLife cutting annuity pay to some of its former advisers
• Recruiting Speeds Up
• For small B-Ds, becoming part of a branch office of a larger firm is a viable exit strategy