Author: rafferty

Schorsch’s Realty Cap to Buy Summit Financial for $49 Million

November 18, 2013
by Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor

Broker-dealer experts have wondered which deal real estate investor Nicholas Schorsch and RCS Capital Corp. (RCAP) were likely to add to the “done” list in the final months of 2013, and Schorsch answered that question early Monday: Summit Financial Services Group (SMMF) for $49 million.

When asked why RCAP has grabbed up Summit and Investor’s Cap, “The reasons are fairly simple,” Schorsch said in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. “They’re both terrific companies, and both are public … which means there’s a lot of transparency around their performance and transactions … More important, they are a good fit for us,

FINRA Expands BrokerCheck to Include IARD Reports

November 12, 2013
By Melanie Waddell, ThinkAdvisor

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced Tuesday that it has enhanced BrokerCheck to allow investors to now search both the BrokerCheck and Investment Adviser Registration Depository record of any securities professional or firm directly on the FINRA home page.

The BrokerCheck search results, FINRA says, are presented in a graphical timeline, illustrating a more user-friendly view of an industry professional’s employment status and history, industry registrations, and any reportable events such as customer disputes or disciplinary actions that may have occurred during his or her career.

FINRA says that it will also make the new BrokerCheck widget available to third-party websites, allowing visitors to those websites direct access to securities professionals’ or firms’ BrokerCheck or IAPD reports without having to visit the FINRA or Securities and Exchange Commission websites.

Want a Big Paycheck to Switch BDs? Beware the True Price

November 7, 2013
By Savita Iyer-Ahrestani, ThinkAdvisor

How much importance do advisors give to upfront compensation when considering a move from one broker-dealer to another?

At a time when the data shows that the population of financial advisors is both shrinking and aging, it can be tempting to accept the more lucrative packages that wirehouses, banks and even regional firms are offering to brokers looking to switch firms, particularly given the expenses of starting an independent advisory firm.

But the better the deal, the more onerous the commitment, says Mark Elzweig, president and founder of the executive search firm Mark Elzweig Co.

Elzweig, who participated in a panel discussion titled “Recruiting Deals by Channels” during ThinkAdvisor’s Going Independent virtual conference,