Louis Diamond Quoted – By Lisa Shidler, RIABiz – Walter Bettinger is making almost no promises to TD Ameritade RIAs about their new life as Charles Schwab & Co. clients — and, in fact, warned today that the impact on revenues may be a “modest” concern relative to direct-to-consumer retail.
Louis Diamond Quoted – By Lisa Shidler, RIABiz – When Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC, raised $50 million from private equity earlier this year, it immediately used half the money to cash out early internal shareholders — but not because the company isn’t growing and morphing like crazy. Steward has grown from 60 to 115 advisors, with 19 advisors, six new offices and $13 billion in assets added this year, according to CEO Jim Gold. The new 1099 model competes even more directly with Raymond James, says Louis Diamond, principal of Diamond Consulting.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Jeff Benjamin, InvestmentNews – First Command Financial Services, a $29 billion hybrid firm with 500 advisers, is transitioning its executive-level leadership, with a new CEO starting Jan. 1. Mark Steffe, 50, the current president and chief operating officer, will take over as chief executive in January, replacing current CEO Scott Spiker, who joined First Command in 2007 following a leadership overhaul at the company.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Jed Horowitz, AdvisorHub – Morgan Stanley broke with recent big-firm tradition on Tuesday, telling its more than 15,000 advisors that they will have to generate more revenue in 2020 to qualify for the same payout percentages that they are earning this year.
By Mindy Diamond, WealthManagement.com – As the year winds down in preparation for the coming of 2020, now is the perfect time to take a step back, revisit your goals and develop a plan to achieve them. But “goal planning” processes often get put aside because they seem complicated and time-consuming, or are preempted by day-to-day business requirements.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Miriam Rozen, Financial Advisor IQ – Don’t expect other wirehouses to match Merrill Lynch’s recently-sweetened payouts for retiring advisors, because Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and UBS had taken steps previously to retain senior talent. In addition, precise comparisons of the various incentives the wirehouses offer are difficult for FAs to make, say recruiters. Mindy Diamond, longtime industry recruiter and president and CEO of Diamond Consultants, suggests Merrill Lynch’s new plan may have disappointed some of its FAs.
By Andrew Welsch, OnWallStreet – Steward Partners hired a former Merrill Lynch team managing $160 million in client assets, the firm said. It’s the latest in a string of hires for the independent firm, which was founded by former wirehouse managers in 2013 and is affiliated with Raymond James. So far this year, Steward Partners has recruited 19 advisors and opened six offices. The Washington, D.C.-based firm now has more than 100 advisors operating from 21 locations.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Ian Wenik, Citywire – Want to attract top talent to your RIA? Be prepared to open your wallet. In a speech at the Schwab IMPACT conference in San Diego, Calif., top advisor recruiter Mindy Diamond explained to a ballroom full of advisors that RIAs need to craft competitive compensation packages for advisors, even if they don’t have the amount of firepower the largest brokerage firms possess.
Louis Diamond Quoted – By Alana Pipe, FundFire – More than a third of financial advisors are expected to retire in the next 10 years, which will result in an estimated $7.8 trillion in assets changing hands, according to a recent report from Cerulli Associates. In anticipation of this retirement boom, wealth management industry firms are scrambling to ensure the smooth transfer of clients to the next generation of advisors while keeping assets in house. For younger advisors, building a business at a wirehouse like this comes at a price, says Louis Diamond, executive v.p. and senior consultant of Diamond Consultants, a recruiting firm.
Louis Diamond Quoted – By Hazel Sheffield, RIAIntel – “Success favors the brave.” Those words appear beneath Michael Souza’s name on his LinkedIn profile. And that same quote is splashed prominently across the website of his company, Koa Wealth Management, the independent RIA he founded in San Diego that manages roughly $100 million in assets.
