Author: rafferty

Surprise Suitor Emerging in Sale of Woodbury

July 19, 2012
by Bruce Kelly, Investment News

Sources say AIG’s Advisor Group one of four potential buyers for The Hartford’s indie B-D; past connections cited

The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is close to announcing a buyer for its independent broker-dealer, Woodbury Financial Services Inc., according to several sources outside the firm but close to its brokers.

Indeed, announcement of a deal for the 1,600 registered representatives and financial advisers is expected before the B-D’s national sales conference in mid-August, industry recruiters said.

The Hartford said in March it intends to sell Woodbury, along with a number of other noncore businesses, as part of a broad restructuring.

According to industry sources, four firms are in the running for Woodbury, which generated $253.7 million in gross revenue last year.

Newbridge Securities in Regulators’ Sights, Again

WealthManagement.com
July 18, 2012

Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, the state securities regulator, is investigating Ft. Lauderdale broker/dealer Newbridge Securities, wealthmanagement.com has learned. It’s just the latest in a long trail of regulatory woe for Newbridge, whose executives and brokers have fallen afoul of securities laws repeatedly since the firm started operating in 2000.

The broker/dealer has a little over 200 reps, each of which is required to generate a minimum of $80,000 in trailing 12-month commissions, according to its website. The firm reported revenues of $39 million and a net loss of $390,983 in 2011, a March filing with the Securities Exchange Commission shows.

The Florida state regulator confirmed that it has a case open on the firm, based on customer complaints,

Making Way for Breakaways

July 15, 2012
by Dan Jamieson, Investment News

One of the challenges breakaway brokers face is maintaining the commission-based business they keep when they move to a fee-based model.

That’s why accommodating the securities business of breakaway brokers is critical for custodial firms that want to capture fee-based assets. And it’s why so-called RIA-friendly broker-dealers, which work with independent RIA firms, have enjoyed solid growth.

Cambridge Investment Research Inc., perhaps the granddaddy of the RIA-friendly niche, went from around $2 million in revenue with little fee business 20 years ago to $21 million in revenue today, 55% of it derived from a share of advisory fees. The firm’s advisers handle $44 billion in total, $23 billion of which is fee-based.

“We rode that [hybrid] wave,” said Cambridge chief executive Eric Schwartz.