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Jon Henschen Tag

ThinkAdvisor

DOL Fiduciary Rule Will Accelerate Broker-Dealer Closings

16:55 22 February in Articles Written by Jon Henschen

February 22, 2016

By Jon Henschen, as featured on ThinkAdvisor and FSI NewsBrief

 

Since 2008, we’ve seen a steep and consistent drop in the number of broker-dealers. As reported by data aggregator Fishbowl Strategies, we were down to 4,578 BDs in 2010. By February of 2014, that number was down to 4,181. We ended 2015 with 4,034 broker-dealers, with the largest segment of firms closing by far being equity trading firms. September 2015 turned out to be a false flag of hope where we had 14 new firms admitted and only 5 firms withdrew. Nevertheless, fourth quarter results continued the downward trend.

Looking at the fourth quarter of 2015, we had 16 new firms that were admitted and 53 firms that withdrew.

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RCS Capital Files for Bankruptcy; Cetera to Use $50M for Retention

18:21 02 February in In the News

February 1, 2016

by Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor

 

The parent company of the Cetera Financial Group of independent broker-dealers, RCS Capital (RCAP), filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Sunday as expected, and Cetera plans to spend some $50 million on programs to retain the roughly 9,000 independent advisors affiliated with its network of  broker-dealers who are eligible for such funding, court filings show.

New York-based RCS Capital has close to $2 billion in assets and roughly $1.4 billion in debts, according to a Bloomberg report. The company’s unsecured creditors include Wilmington Savings Fund Society and Proskauer Rose LLP of New York.

In early January, RCS Capital said it had obtained $150 million to restructure its finances from a group of key investors.

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What Will Lightyear Do With AIG Advisor Group?

17:42 02 February in In the News

January 26, 2016

by Emily Zulz, ThinkAdvisor

 

In an acquisition like the purchase of AIG Advisor Group by Lightyear Capital and PSP Investments, there are usually two options, recruiter Jon Henschen says

After weeks of speculation, Lightyear Capital has confirmed that it – along with one of Canada’s largest pension investment managers, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board – has agreed to acquire AIG Advisor Group.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory and other approvals, and terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

As part of the deal, investment funds affiliated with Lightyear and PSP Investments will have the majority of the seats on Advisor Group’s Board of Directors.

In a statement,