TD scored big with breakaways in 2012

A strong gain in net new assets took TD Ameritrade Institutional over the $200 billion asset level last month. And the unit continues to snag its fair share of breakaway brokers. The gain marks something of a milestone for the custody business of TD Ameritrade, the No. 3 industry player, behind Schwab Advisor Services, which has $789 billion, and Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services, $608 billion, a figure that includes institutional assets other than RIAs. TD Ameritrade's custody unit had $2 billion in assets in 1997, said Tom Nally, head of TD Ameritrade Institutional. Parent TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. on Tuesday reported a record $16 billion in net new assets companywide in its fiscal first quarter, which ended Dec. 31. Net revenue of $651 million for the quarter were flat from the year-earlier period. Slow trading volumes and low interest rates continued to affect performance. The company does not separately disclose assets held for its registered investment advisers, but new assets gathered by its affiliated advisory firms run at about twice the rate as TD's individual-investor business, Mr. Nally said. TD's custody business landed 110 breakaway brokers in the latest quarter. For the fiscal year ended September, the unit landed 441 breakaways, up from 348 in fiscal 2011. TD Institutional serves about 4,500 advisers.