This adviser is in hiring mode

Small-business hiring stalled in September as owners await signs of an improving economy, but the picture is brighter for independent investment advisers, a large RIA firm argued. “We have seen a pickup in business,” said Terry Siman, managing director of the Philadelphia office of United Capital Financial Partners Inc., a registered investment adviser with about $15 billion in assets under advisement. “I think this much volatility in the markets drives more business to [fiduciary investment advisers] because more people are more willing to look for outside help.” In strong markets, more people take a do-it-yourself approach, he said. According to the CBIZ Small Business Employment Index, a barometer for hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, hiring dropped slightly in September, for the third consecutive falling month. Just over one-fourth, or 789, of 3,043 small businesses surveyed, said they had increased employee head count last month, compared to 795 who reduced head count. The other 1,459 stayed the same. According to the Labor Department, the private sector overall added 137,000 jobs in September for a net gain of 103,000. About half of the increase was 45,000 Verizon Communications workers who returned from a strike. Small and large businesses are both in a “staredown” with the economy, said Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ Payroll Services, a unit of CBIZ Inc. “They are waiting for some significant change or some trend to develop.” Businesses are looking for consumer demand before they add new hires, he said. But investment advisers can't afford to wait, said Mr. Siman, who has been in hiring mode. After 25 years in the same office space, United Capital moved into new digs that are twice the size, and Mr. Siman said he is confident they will need every square foot. “Even if you don't have the business currently, if you are planning to grow you have to make those investments in advance,” he said. “Small businesses have to act more quickly and nimbly.”