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In a challenged sector, how one IBD is navigating a barrage of changes

21:26 23 April in In the News by rafferty

April 22, 2019 By Tobias Salinger, Financial Planning Jack Oujo admits he may have flubbed the initial call. The 26-year HD Vest Financial Services advisor and former minor league baseball umpire first balked at the largest tax-focused independent broker-dealer’s clearing switch to Fidelity’s National Financial Services. Upon further review, he says, it looks much better, thanks to tools like eMoney and a new client portal. “I questioned the whole thing when it happened, but I was wrong,” says Oujo, who has an eponymous New Jersey-based practice and notes he previously “had a bitter taste” toward National Financial. “It's clear now that they've upped their game tremendously.” HD Vest parent Blucora’s pending $180-million acquisition of 1st Global would mark a further change at the IBD, which also made Envestnet its advisory platform in September and bid...

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HD Vest Parent to Acquire 1st Global

16:19 19 March in In the News by rafferty

March 19, 2019 By Janet Levaux, ThinkAdvisor The deal unites tax-minded advisors and could create an IBD with 4,500 reps and $60 billion in assets. Less than a month ahead of Tax Day, two tax-focused independent broker-dealers are coming together. Blucora — the parent company of the IBD H.D. Vest and the software maker TaxAct — is buying 1st Global for about $180 million in stock. Both are based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. With 1st Global’s 850 advisors and $18 billion in client assets, the combined entity should have close to 4,500 advisors and $60 billion in total assets, Blucora says. The deal comes about 3 1/2 years after Blucora announced plans to buy HD Vest, which had 4,500 FAs with $36 billion in assets at the time. Last week, 1st Global released the results...