LPL Financial, the nation's largest independent-contractor broker-dealer, is on the lookout for plum acquisition candidates, although a top executive says growth through current advisers is the company's prime goal.
Jeff Auld, the president of Berthel Fisher and Company Financial Services Inc., has left the company for personal reasons.
Independent-contractor broker-dealers are gnashing their teeth over the possible consequences of an updated professional code of ethics for certified financial planners, coming this summer.
The nation's top 25 independent-contractor broker-dealers reported a staggering 26.6% increase in gross revenue last year to $13.52 billion, from $10.68 billion in 2006.
Despite a bruising, competitive market that some say is inhospitable to their survival, many small independent-contractor broker-dealers see plenty of opportunity.
Both GunnAllen Financial Inc. and a former top executive are claiming victory after a lengthy arbitration battle that focused on whether the independent broker- dealer had the right to fire David McCoy, its former chief operating officer and national sales director, who was dismissed in 2005.
Broker-dealer executives whose firms clear trades through and use the custody services of Bear Stearns Securities Corp. say that their fears have been calmed for the moment by the deal under which JPMorgan Chase & Co. will acquire parent company The Bear Stearns Cos. Inc.
Last year, National Planning Corp. and its sister broker-dealers shocked the independent-contractor broker-dealer industry with its lucrative recruiting packages to independent representatives.
Advanced Equities Financial Corp., a Chicago-based securities firm that has carved a niche of financing companies backed by venture capital firms, is preparing for an initial public offering.
Financial advisory firms have evolved from home-based businesses, to one-man shows, to full-fledged, thriving enterprises with multiple professionals and sometimes many staff members.
The following is an edited transcript of the round-table discussion.
The SEC's proposed changes to Regulation S-P may slow down recruiting of independent reps, but executives with independent broker-dealers nonetheless are relieved that the agency has given some potential guidance on the issue.
It's early in the game, but independent advisers appear to be winning the competition to lure retirement assets, according to the management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
Registered investment advisers seem to be winning the race to capture the retiring-baby-boomer market, according to Charles "Chip" Roame, managing principal of Tiburon (Calif.) Strategic Advisors LLC, who spoke at the TD Ameritrade Partnership 2008 Conference in Orlando, Fla. this month.
The Investment Management Consultants Association has been attracting more independent planners and advisers.
LPL Financial will increase its spending on monitoring tools and in other areas to make sure it does not experience a repeat of last year's technology glitches, according to its new chief information officer.
A broker who was recently booted from the securities industry has cost Next Financial Group Inc. and Raymond James Financial Services Inc. dearly — with the two firms paying out almost $850,000 to settle cases involving clients who got burned.
Raymond James' asset-management unit and its bank could be worth close to $4 billion, according to Barrons.
After a sterling 2007, leading independent-contractor broker-dealers are facing a horde of significant problems this year, with the subprime-mortgage crisis, skyrocketing gas and oil prices and the threat of a recession the most daunting.
The typical American financial adviser is 50.4 years old, works with 250 to 500 clients and manages $25 million to $100 million in assets.
