Raymond James Financial Inc. has acquired a boutique investment bank to expand its reach in that business, following through on plans to scoop up acquisitions in the troubled market.
Leaders of Fidelity Investments' adviser and broker-dealer clearing businesses pointed fingers at themselves and at clients last week for retreating from customer contact during the most chaotic periods of their business careers and hinted at changes to come in several key services.
Some smaller broker-dealers are weathering tough times by diversifying into the institutional side of the business.
Considering the economy, the state of the stock market and the public's perception of Wall Street, the immediate outlook for the independent-brokerage business — like most financial services businesses — is anything but glowing.
Brokers who are considering going independent are finding a bright spot amid the gloom: The cost of going it alone is down sharply.
<i>InvestmentNews</i> has entered into a partnership with Moss Adams LLP to continue the research and studies conducted and produced by Moss Adams since 1992 on independent financial advisory firms.
The recent fantastic growth among independent broker-dealers came skidding to a halt last year, but the results were far from disastrous for many firms.
After months of waiting for talks on the sale of the three broker-dealers that make up the AIG Advisor Group to be resolved, many of the more than 6,000 representatives and financial advisers in the network are growing anxious about their future.
As the broad market continues its free fall, independent broker-dealer Woodbury (Minn.) Financial Services Inc. is grappling with changes in senior management and the lingering problems of its owner, The Hartford (Conn.) Financial Services Group Inc.
Seeking to assess the strength of the insurance carriers they do business with, many smaller independent broker-dealers — flummoxed by the insurers' opaque balance sheets and arcane accounting practices — are relying on a time-tested tool: their own observations.
Smith Barney has lost 15 advisers in the Baltimore area to Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.
Robert W. Baird has snagged Paula Johnson, an industry veteran most recently with rival Wachovia Securities LLC of St. Louis, to lead a fledgling branch office.
Private-equity investors appear to be leading the pack of likely buyers for the three broker-dealers in the AIG Advisor Group, which houses 6,571 representatives, according to a number of industry sources.
Who would be better at running an independent broker-dealer than an independent rep?
The severe market downturn is wreaking havoc on an independent-broker-dealer industry, putting all sources of income under siege and flattening already thin profit margins.
As much as executives at custodian firms dream about scores of wirehouse brokers going independent, they say that it's just not happening.
Two recent surveys lend credence to suggestions that the Wall Street meltdown may drive more financial advisers to independent firms from wirehouses.
