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Articles Written by Jon Henschen

ThinkAdvisor

How DOL Is Changing Sign-On Bonuses and Other Indie BD Procedures

15:29 16 June in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

June 13, 2017

By Jon Henschen, as published on ThinkAdvisor

A profitability shell game is going on, as profit centers such as ticket charge markups are sacrificed while advisory administration fees increase

The wirehouse channel is cutting back dramatically on upfront money offered to join their broker dealer. Also of note is the recent case of Merrill Lynch, which is trying to grow without offering traditional sign-on bonuses.

Both trends are a result of DOL rules, and DOL rules are having an impact on the independent broker-dealer channel, but not in ways you may think.

Of the 3,902 FINRA member firms (as tracked by Fishbowl Strategies in late February), approximately 25% offer some form of forgivable note (or sign-on bonus) to aid in the expenses and disruption of a broker dealer switch.

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ThinkAdvisor

5 Compliance Approaches That Chase Away Advisor Talent

17:48 01 May in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

April 26, 2017

By Jon Henschen, as featured on ThinkAdvisor

 

Several months ago, I took my wife’s car out on an errand and noticed the front driver side panel protruding out at the seam. I didn’t notice any dents or scratches so I simply pressed the panel back in place. Investigating further, taking a walk around the front of the car and then to the passenger side, I saw scratches and a large dent. It turned out that our teenage daughter had driven into a mailbox as she swerved the car off the road reaching down to the floor to grab a CD to play. There was no mention of the incident until we brought it up, as is so often the case with teenagers,

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ThinkAdvisor

BD Back-Office Consolidation: Profit Bonanza or Service Boondoggle?

17:45 23 February in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

February 22, 2017

By Jon Henschen as published on ThinkAdvisor

Even before the Labor Dept. fiduciary rule has been implemented and now likely delayed for 18 months, broker-dealers are making business changes due to lower revenue and higher expenses. One broker-dealer recently laid off employees due to a major slowdown in variable annuity revenue while another BD with a strong focus on alternative investments and REITs announced that 2017 would be break-even after years of consistent profitability; we see many broker-dealers raising costs or adding profit centers to help fill in the void.

For multiple broker-dealers operating under a single owner, the temptation to cut costs by consolidating back-office services is nothing new but with the added expenses and revenue decline of DOL rules,

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