Author: rafferty

Are Independents Here to Stay?

October 4, 2012
by Diana Britton, Wealth Management.com

Recruiting into the independent broker/dealer channel has not materialized as people thought this year, but new research from Cogent says that may soon change. While recruiters say the number of breakaway brokers going independent has slowed down this year, defying expectations, the pace may pick up soon. Twenty two percent of advisors are considering a move in the next two years, according to a recent report by Cogent Research. Their top choices of where to land? LPL Financial (43 percent are likely to consider it) and Raymond James Financial Services (40 percent).

Potential breakaways are also considering Wells Fargo Advisors (36 percent), Ameriprise (30 percent), and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney (28 percent).

Aite Group predicted that 2012 would be a landmark year in breakaway volume as the golden handcuffs loosen at the wirehouses.

The New Velvet Rope? B/D Admissions Down Dramatically

August 24, 2012
by Diana Britton, WealthManagement.com

It’s become increasingly difficult for small broker/dealers to break into the business, as regulations increase.

For the last few years, the independent broker/dealer community has been consumed by the blow-ups of problematic alternative investments, with many small firms simply throwing in the towel. But the velvet rope, so to speak, just got a little longer. With new regulations and compliance burdens, many small shops aren’t opening up new broker/dealers at all.

According to a recent study by The Compliance Department Inc., a Centennial, Colo.-based firm that provides compliance outsourcing services to b/ds and investment advisors, the number of new broker/dealer admissions has dropped about 45 percent from last year. Only 18 new firms—with equities as their main line of business—registered with FINRA in the first six months of this year,

Woodbury reps set to cash in: recruiters

August 23, 2012
by Bruce Kelly, Investment News

Management to double down on bonuses for reps at former Hartford Financial B-D; ‘world of difference’

A number of Woodbury Financial Services reps and advisers will soon see a cash mini-bonanza. This comes after the announcement last month that the retirement business and broker-dealer arm of American International Group Inc. was buying the firm.

According to industry recruiters, many of the 1,400 Woodbury reps have recently been approached by management to discuss deals commonly known as “stay” or retention packages. The terms are essentially a doubling of a stay bonus that many reps received in the spring, recruiters said.

Giving reps stay bonuses while a broker-dealer was on the block was considered highly unusual at the time but also a smart way to keep brokers from leaving before a sale was announced.