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Financial Advisor IQ a Financial Times Service

Broker-Dealers Facing Scrutiny From Several Regulators

16:58 21 August in In the News by rafferty

August 21, 2015 Financial Advisor IQ   Regulators are not happy with what’s happening in the broker-dealer segment this year. Finra is giving broker-dealers until Sept. 18 to answer questions about compensation and conflicts of interest, ThinkAdvisor writes. Outside auditors of broker-dealers, meanwhile, are taking flak for utterly failing to do their job, Financial Advisor magazine reports. Finra’s questionnaire, limited to the retail accounts managed by broker-dealers, consists of 19 questions about firms’ activities over the past year related to compensation policies, review of supervisors and the role of the board, as well as policies to detect conflicts of interest and methods to curb them, according to ThinkAdvisor. The self-regulator acknowledged “instances of positive change” since its October 2013 report on conflicts of interest, but also said that the issue is a “recurring challenge” that can lead to poor...

Financial Advisor IQ a Financial Times Service

Can a Site Built on Broker Rumors Make Money?

16:51 03 March in In the News by rafferty

March 3 , 2015 By Joan Warner, Financial Advisor IQ   The website Josh Brown has called “the most important site in finance” may finally be able to monetize its popularity. When AdvisorHUB made its debut in January 2014, founder Andrew Parish expected readers would pay a modest subscription fee to get the gory details of recent broker recruiting deals. Underwhelmed by the number of people who initially signed up, Parish — who has done time as both an FA and a headhunter — made the site free and created a “rumors” feature, where advisors and their bosses can submit anonymous comments and rants. Readership quickly exploded. AdvisorHUB now has 256,000 registered subscribers, according to Parish, and monthly unique page views hit 601,000 in February. Just 11 people produce the site, working out of Columbus, Ohio, and a...

Financial Advisor IQ a Financial Times Service

Wells Fargo’s Indie Channel Growing Faster Than Captives

17:25 19 February in In the News by rafferty

February 15, 2015 By Murray Coleman, Financial Advisor IQ   After working more than 35 years at Merrill Lynch, advisor Don O’Neal decided in early 2013 to make a switch. Along with his longtime partner, Teresa Brokaw, he packed up and joined a rival wirehouse. But instead of becoming a captive broker, the pair signed up with the Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, or FiNet, the firm’s independent channel. “It gave us the best of both worlds,” says O’Neal, whose practice manages $175 million and is based in Lynwood, Wash. “We own the business and our clients, but we still get support from Wells Fargo for back-office and investment platforms that are similar to what we’ve used in the past.” Their story isn’t unique. WFA says the head count at FiNet rose by 3% last year, to 1,254 advisors. Assets under...