Investors Capital will subsidize FSI memberships for its advisers

The Financial Services Institute, the lobbying organization for independent broker-dealers, said Friday that it had picked up the support of advisers this week from sizable independent broker-dealer Investors Capital Corp. On Monday, LPL Financial LLC said at its annual conference in Chicago that it would pay for a one-year membership to the FSI for each of its 12,600 representatives and financial advisers. At the same time, Tim Murphy, chief executive of Investors Capital, told its reps attending its annual meeting in Boston that the firm would subsidize the firm’s 500 advisers’ membership dues to the FSI in the future. He and a rep, Don Ingram, also said that they would match any contributions made to the FSI “war chest,” and advisers immediately committed $25,000. The aim of building the FSI’s adviser membership is to have more impact with legislators and regulators, said Dale Brown, the group’s president and chief executive. “To have Investors Capital, LPL and others leading the way and driving membership and revenue for FSI, we will have an even bigger voice with legislators and regulators,” he said in a statement. “And it couldn’t come soon enough, with issues like the [Department of Labor’s] definition of fiduciary, the [Securities and Exchange Commission’s] fiduciary standard rule and a [self-regulatory organization] for retail investment advisers. We need all the firepower we can get,” Mr. Brown said. “As a firm, we could never afford to replicate the incredible advocacy and communications work that FSI thrives at, which makes our dues and extra contributions worth every dime,” Mr. Murphy said in a statement. The FSI has 124 broker-dealer members and 27,000 adviser and registered rep members.