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Author: rafferty

Fee Changes May Mean More Fee-Based Accounts

00:00 10 July in In the News by rafferty

by Daisey Maxey and featured in Dow Jones Newswire
July, 2010:

(New York) – A proposal by regulators to limit and shed more light on mutual-fund distribution charges won’t, for the most part, affect brokers’ overall compensation but could encourage more fee-based advisory business.

Even if brokers were to see the proposal as a threat, they aren’t likely to raise many complaints.

The changes, proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission this week, would restrict funds’ ongoing sales charges to the highest fee charged by the fund for shares that have no ongoing sales charge. For example, if one share class of a fund charges a 4% front-end sales charge, another class couldn’t charge more than 4% in total to investors over time.

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‘Marked’ Advisers Finding It Harder To Move

00:00 01 July in In the News by rafferty

by Daisy Maxey and featured in Dow Jones Newswire
July, 2010:

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) – Financial advisers with multiple blemishes on their records are finding it tougher to move from one broker-dealer to another these days.

Not all that long ago, the new firm might look past an adviser’s “marks” (for, say, selling an unsuitable investment to a client) if they brought a healthy book of business and a talent for recruiting clients. But in the post-crisis world of both heightened litigation and increased regulatory scrutiny, that isn’t happening as often.

Mindy Diamond, president of Chester, N.J.-based search firm Diamond Consultants, says, “We’re living in a much more hyper-vigilant compliance culture where the appetite for advisers with marks (on their records) is much less than it has ever been before.”

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Gauging Broker-Dealer Service: How You Can, Why You Should

00:00 01 July in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

by Jonathan Henschen, CFS and featured in advisorbiz.com
July, 2010:

It’s no secret: one of the main reasons reps leave firms is lousy back-room service.

Sure, all broker dealers claim to offer terrific service, but the toughest thing for reps to gauge when selecting a firm is the quality of that service, and the various factors that can influence that quality, or lack of it.

If you’ve already been burned by a broker dealer’s approach to service you know what I mean, and should want to avoid reliving it. If you’re new to all this, trust me: you’ll want to avoid the experience. Either way, stick around, you’ll all profit from what you’re about to read.

I might as well begin by explaining that from my 20 years in this business,

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