Articles Written by Jon Henschen

Congress Got Schooled Once by a BD Owner; It Should Again

December 20, 2016

By Jon Henschen as published on ThinkAdvisor

I must start this article by confessing that I’m not only a YouTube fan, but also the nerdy type that watches speech footage from the likes of economists Milton Friedman as well as various financial services thought leaders. Recently, I watched a broker-dealer owner give testimony to Congress. Listening to his testimony compelled me to feature his opening comments as the centerpiece of this article for two reasons. First, the content of his testimony was an onion of truth bombs. Second, his testimony reflected many of the thoughts and concerns that broker-dealer owners discuss in private but are afraid to say in public for fear of regulatory backlash.

The speaker,

Is Your Broker-Dealer in a Death Spiral? 4 Steps to Discovery

December 8, 2016

By Jon Henschen as featured on ThinkAdvisor

In a recent conversation with an advisor at an independent broker-dealer, I brought up a few issues of concern regarding his BD. They included a pattern of disparaging press the firm had experienced over the last few years, the loss of numerous advisors, several large fines that had been imposed and their financials running at a loss in the most recent focus filing.
The advisor went to the president of the broker-dealer, who assured him that everything was fine, that they had not lost numerous reps and all was in excellent order. The advisor then shared his feedback with me with an attitude that appeared to imply that either I was misinformed or had not been telling him the truth.