NFP Securities chief abruptly quits

Jeff Montgomery, head of NFP Securities Inc., announced abruptly that he was resigning. The firm’s parent company, National Financial Partners Corp. of New York, will replace him from within. Mr. Montgomery, who made the announcement on Wednesday, also resigned as chief operating officer of another business unit, NFP Insurance Services Inc. His departure becomes effective at the end of February. Mr. Montgomery plans to work with an asset-management company in southern California, said Barbara Willis, a spokeswoman for National Financial Partners, but said that she did not know which one he would join. NFP Securities of Austin, Texas, is one of the biggest independent-contractor shops in the industry, and an important cog in the incredible growth of Jessica Bibliowicz’s National Financial Partners Corp. Ms. Bibliowicz, the daughter Sanford I. Weill, is chairman, CEO and president of National Financial Partners. She launched the firm is 1999. Last year, NFP Securities ranked third among broker-dealers in gross revenue, with $966.3 million, and this year was eighteenth in terms of reps — 1,658 — according to the most recent InvestmentNews independent broker-dealer survey. Mr. Montgomery's position At NFP Securities will be filled by Daniel J. Young, currently president and COO; at NFP Insurance Services, Mr. Montgomery’s former role will be supervised by James R. Gelder, the CEO of the firm, according to the filing.