Independent Financial Group, one of the last large, privately held broker-dealers to work with independent contractor advisors, has tapped independent broker-dealer veteran Kevin Keefe as president and chief operating officer.
Independent Financial Group, known as IFG, has 550 producing reps and advisors and generates about $325 million in annual revenue, said Dave Fischer, the firm’s co-founder and chief marketing officer, in an interview Friday morning. The firm has been searching for a president for the past few years, ever since Joe Miller, who previously held the role, stepped down in 2022.
The goal, he added, is to grow IFG over time into a firm with $1 billion in annual revenue. The broker-dealer is based in San Diego.
“We keep on deepening the bench, so to speak,” Fischer said. “Scott Heising, our CEO and founder, can focus on strategy and the financials, and I can focus on recruiting and corporate marketing. The goal is to continue creating that good, solid culture that takes care of the advisors.”
Twenty years ago, independent broker-dealers such as IFG flourished, with dozens of independently owned firms working with several hundred reps scattered around the country. But aging leadership and ownership, which needs to sell to cash out, and the infusion of private equity managers, desperate to buy and grow, have turned that landscape on its head.
The sale of privately held and tightly-controlled Commonwealth Financial Network to publicly-traded LPL Financial Holdings Inc. at the end of March for $2.7 billion in cash was a wake up call to the limited options some advisors face when it comes to choosing a broker-dealer to work with, executives said. LPL, for example, has been an acquisition machine for 20 years.
“The IFG story is pretty on point for what’s going on in the IBD space today,” Keefe said Friday in an interview. “The consolidation and so-called Mega firms have redefined the market.”
“IFG’s focus is on service, flexibility and creating a community for the advisors and home office staff,” Keefe said. “The goal is to deliver a definition of independence defined by the advisor and not the firm. The giant broker-dealers have moved away from that.”
Keefe previously served as CEO of Realta Securities since April 2023. A 21-year securities industry executive, Keefe also has worked at LPL Financial and a variety of other broker-dealers in the past.
AI is no replacement for trusted financial advisors, but it can meaningfully enhance their capabilities as well as the systems they rely on.
Prudential's Jordan Toma is no "Finfluencer," but he is a registered financial advisor with four million social media followers and a message of overcoming personal struggles that's reached kids in 150 school across the US.
GReminders is deepening its integration partnership with a national wealth firm, while Advisor CRM touts a free new meeting tool for RIAs.
The Texas-based former advisor reportedly bilked clients out of millions of dollars, keeping them in the dark with doctored statements and a fake email domain.
The $3.3 trillion tax and spending cut package narrowly got through the upper house, with JD Vance casting the deciding vote to overrule three GOP holdouts.
Orion's Tom Wilson on delivering coordinated, high-touch service in a world where returns alone no longer set you apart.
Barely a decade old, registered index-linked annuities have quickly surged in popularity, thanks to their unique blend of protection and growth potential—an appealing option for investors looking to chart a steadier course through today's choppy market waters, says Myles Lambert, Brighthouse Financial.
