June 15, 2018 – Louis Diamond Quoted – By Michael Thrasher, WealthManagement.com – In wake of U.S. courts axing the Department of Labor’s retirement savings rule, Merrill Lynch told its field of more than 14,000 financial advisors on Friday that the brokerage is reevaluating its policies and procedures, especially those related to retirement accounts.
May 24, 2018 – Louis Diamond Quoted – By Brooke Southall, RIABiz – Focus Financial filed the paperwork to complete an initial public offering. The New York-based roll-up, which recorded revenues of $663 million in 2017 filed an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Nasdaq symbol will be FOCS. No pricing information was given.
May 23, 2018 – Louis Diamond Quoted – By Brooke Southall, RIABiz – Shares of skyrocketed to another record close of $71.91 yesterday as the firm continues to struggle with recruiting advisors and retaining recruiters. The higher stock market valuation and a new recruiting stance may have a surprising connection, observers claim off the record. The departures likely boil down to recruiters choosing the path of least resistance, says Louis Diamond, New York-based principal of Diamond Consultants.
May 18, 2018 – Louis Diamond Quoted – By Barron’s – Wells Fargo Advisors experienced fewer advisor departures early this year than during the same period of 2017. This could signal its advisors are less worried by the parent company’s banking scandal or that Wells has figured out how to better retain advisors. One recruiter said Wells Fargo appears to have addressed the problem.
May 17, 2018 – Louis Diamond Quoted – By Bruce Kelly, InvestmentNews – Wells Fargo Advisors has slowed the bleeding of its financial advisers that began after September 2016. That’s when Wells Fargo & Co. revealed a scandal in its retail banking that resulted in the company being fined $185 million for opening accounts for a few million customers without their knowledge or approval — a public relations nightmare that also alienated some of the firm’s advisers. One recruiter said it looked like Wells Fargo had gotten its arms around the problem of watching valuable advisers walk out the door after the banking scandal.
May 10, 2018 – Barbara Herman Quoted – By Bruce Kelly, InvestmentNews – At a time when the financial advice industry is desperately attempting to become younger and more diverse, Edward Jones’ move earlier this week to tap a woman as its next managing partner will only make the firm more attractive to potential female candidates seeking to work as an adviser, industry observers said. “I think two things are meaningful to advisers. First, that leadership comes from the rank and file, one of their own,” said Barbara Herman, a senior vice president at Diamond Consultants, a recruiting firm for advisers. “She started as an FA and that resonates with advisers.”
May 4, 2018 – By Mindy Diamond – WealthManagement.com – Control is driving the virtual tug of war between advisors. It’s an annual ritual for our firm: We gather the team together and take a long, hard look at what transpired over the previous 12 months. Working together, we examine deals both large and small, dissect the headlines, hearsay and study the players—all resulting in an annual report that we make available to professionals in the wealth management industry.
May 3, 2018 – Louis Diamond Quoted – By Lisa Shidler, RIABiz – Facing the prospect of reps with tens of billions of managed assets marching for the door, LPL Financial is slashing fees. Last week, the Fort Mill, S.C.-based independent broker-dealer announced it was reducing its administrative fee to a flat eight basis points for advisors using the corporate platform who manage $25 million to $50 million amid other inducements. In fact, the price cut may have been dictated by the OSJs that use LPL, says Louis Diamond, New York-based principal of Diamond Consultants, in an email.
April 25, 2018 – Wendy Leung, Moves in the News – By Amanda Schiavo, OnWallStreet – Last week, Stifel picked up an advisor managing nearly $300 million from Janney Montgomery Scott. The newest hires, advisors Ken Miller and husband-and-wife duo Tony and Bianca Urdes, joined the regional brokerage firm in Portland, Oregon. The team’s clients include early stage investors and ultrahigh-net-worth individuals.
April 16, 2018 – Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Lee Conrad, OnWallStreet – The breakaway movement is as strong as ever and unlikely to slow down despite the recent departures from the Broker Protocol, top recruiters say. Some advisors may be even more inclined to go independent due to their ire at wirehouse policy shifts. Yet, the fact remains that many brokers are paid very well and are averse to upsetting the applecart (even one of the recruiters says it’s hard to argue with that).
In this third installment of our annual recruiters roundtable, top headhunters discussed how they see this tension playing out, where the next generation of advisors will come from and what compensation changes could be around the corner.
