In the News

FINRA Broker Bonus Plan Would Be ‘Nonevent’ for Many Reps: Henschen

September 19, 2013
by Melanie Waddell, ThinkAdvisor

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced Thursday that its Board of Governors approved a proposal requiring brokers to disclose recruitment compensation paid to them as an incentive to move to a new firm.

The regulator raised the threshold of payments that would need to be reported. The rule would apply to recruitment compensation — including signing bonuses, up-front or back-end bonuses, loans, accelerated payouts, and transition assistance — of $100,000 or more, and to future payments (trade-based or asset-based) contingent on performance criteria.

The proposal will be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission for review and approval. The SEC could then put the proposal out for public comment or approve it.

Roth’s Exit From Advisor Group: ‘A Big Deal’

September 6, 2013
by Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor

News that the Larry Roth, who has led the Advisor Group of 6,000 independent reps for the past six years, is set to be CEO of Nicholas Schorsch’s Realty Capital Securities on Monday has raised eyebrows and questions for broker-dealer recruiters and other experts.

Peter Harbeck is serving as interim president and CEO of the Advisor Group, which includes the IBDs Royal Alliance, FSC Securities, SagePoint Financial and Woodbury Financial.

Chip Roame, head of Tiburon Strategic Advisors, agrees. “Larry did a terrific job leading Advisor Group through the AIG crisis and rebuilding it afterward,” he said. “It would be difficult to rate his performance other than an A.”

Losing such an “A-level” executive is tough in any business,

LPL’s paradox: Cut costs and outsource for growth

September 1, 2013
by Bruce Kelly, Investment News

Two separate moves last week — one that involved shuttering a new business and the other job outsourcing — highlight the challenge facing LPL Financial LLC as it pushes to drive growth and contain costs.

That seemingly paradoxical challenge is, of course, nothing new for big, established companies. But for LPL Financial, which has 13,400 affiliated independent advisers and 700 financial institutions, it represents a new stage in its life as a public company, industry observers said.

“LPL is at the point where it’s the product of many mergers,” said Alois Pirker, research director with Aite Group LLC. “It’s reached a certain size, and they have to look at the operating model and ask,