Mindy Diamond Quoted
By Joan Warner, Miriam Rozen
Flying solo in the financial-advice business has never been a cakewalk, and mounting compliance costs are making it even tougher. According to Cerulli Associates, the number of sole practitioners has shrunk over the past five years, especially among independent broker-dealers, where multi-advisor practices are up 55%.
“It’s very hard and expensive to be a solo practitioner,” says Mindy Diamond, president and CEO of advisor recruiting firm Diamond Consultants. Much of the recent merger activity among advisors, she says, flows from solos recognizing their expenses will overwhelm them if they don’t find at least one partner.