Marine Resident Recognized
June 28, 2012
by Phillip Bock, Country Messenger
Jon Henschen of Marine on St. Croix was recently named one of the 25 most influential people in the financial services industry by Investment Advisor magazine, a leading trade publication in the field of financial services.
Henschen, whose home-business Henschen & Associates, LLC. is also based in Marine on St. Croix, has more than 20 years experience in the industry, and his insight into the interworking of the broker-dealer realm has been published by Blomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and Investment Advisor.
Henschen’s company acts as an independent recruiting firm that specializes in helping advisors find independent broker/dealers. Henschen said he has contracts with approximately 90 broker/dealers and helps independent firms find the one who is right for them.
“We kind of take the doctor approach,” he said. “We get to know the client, then we make our diagnosis.”
Though Henschen has positioned himself as an authority in the world of broker/dealers, his original career was far and away from the financial sector. Henschen was working as a laser optics engineer when a chance opportunity changed the course of his career.
“The way I got into this was on a whim. I was looking to get into laser optic sales, because I was frustrated with the engineering side of it,” Henschen said.
In his first interview for a sales position, Henschen said he was disheartened to learn the pay for the position was $30,000, but the HR representative interviewing him gave sound advice.
“He told me if I wanted to make the big bucks I should become a broker,” Henschen said. “I took that to heart and I got a firm in Las Angeles to sponsor me for my license.”
He was with that first firm for only a few years before he began work at a more reputable company and worked his way up the ladder, eventually positioning himself as an authority in the industry.
Early in his financial service career he recurited financial planners and stock brokers, but his career took another turn when the industry took a dive after 9/11. The firm he was working for laid him off, and Henschen has been working independently ever since. Henschen said he regularly lends comments and expertise to journalists and other industry employees, a task that he said may have influenced his naming to the annual list.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” he said. “I get calls from reporters a lot looking for input on things. I thought they were calling me just to ask what I think of the people nominated. It was much as a surprise to me as to most people.”
Henschen’s name appears on the list with other financial industry leaders, including Mary Schapiro, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and Tom Nally, the President of TD Ameritrade Institutional.
The selection of the “top 25 most influential people in and around the advisor universe” is selected by the editorial staff of the Investment Advisor Group, which includes the magazines Investment Advisor, and Research, as well as AdvisorOne.com.