Howard Diamond Quoted – By Lisa Shidler, RIABiz – A rash of recent lawsuits filed by wirehouses against breakaways are bad news for advisors — even though they ultimately achieve their objective of independence. Though many of these cases get settled within six weeks, they still cause massive headaches for advisors because they eat up their time, making it harder to recruit clients.
Mindy Diamond Quoted, FundFire – A fast-growing independent brokerage practice of LPL Financial transformed itself this year to focus on registered investment advisor (RIA) compliance – but aims to keep the “fast-growing” part. By flicking the switch to send its brokerage compliance work to LPL and using its own advisor registration, Independent Financial Partners, which bills itself as the “largest RIA in Florida,” is keeping many elements of its old business model.
By Mindy Diamond, WealthManagement.com – Some of the wirehouses’ most-coveted advisors have caught the industry’s attention by making the leap to independence over the last few years, causing many to question the wirehouse model. After all, RIAs are expected to grow faster than wirehouse advisors this year, increasing their client base by 12 percent versus 7 percent for wirehouse FAs, according to Aite Group. Last year, RIA firms’ assets grew by 18 percent, versus wirehouse firms by 8.2 percent.
By Howard Diamond, Financial Advisor IQ – A few short years ago, it was a generally accepted notion that only advisors who “couldn’t cut it” at the big firms went independent. But this perception seems to have been turned on its head since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008 as an ever-increasing number of successful advisors have forsaken the traditional model and gone the independent route to become so-called breakaway brokers.
By Mindy Diamond, WealthManagement.com – Breakaway broker? More like breakback broker. While the wirehouses continue to lose advisors to the independent channel, they are also luring some large teams of their own back to their ranks.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Thomas Coyle, Financial Advisor IQ – Last month, UBS Financial Services, the U.S. wealth management arm of the Swiss megabank, published in its latest ADV filing with the SEC a change to its payout schedule for distinct financial planning services, a fact brought to light on April 23 by FA-IQ sister publication Gatekeeper IQ. The whole thing might seem straightforward enough, but industry experts put very different colors on it…Under the old system, UBS advisors who charged clients for financial plans separately from investment plans could get a split of “grid” — which can range from about 30% to about 60%, depending on variables including size of account and overall productivity — plus 3% for expenses. Now, financial planning services separately billable at more than $1,000 trigger a 50-50 split between the firm and the advisor, who can claim an additional 15% for expenses, up to $25,000 a year.
By Mindy Diamond, WealthManagement.com – For years, I have been called upon to put to rest questions about the value of changing firms. Some of the myths most commonly heard have been about the wirehouse and the independent channels. In 2004, when I wrote my first “Of Myths and Moving” column, total transition deals maxed at 120 percent of trailing 12-month production, and there were virtually no independent options for top advisors. Given the recent changes across the industry, it seemed a good time to revisit industry myths—both new and old.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Brooke Southall, RIABiz – The Maher Group – the former Merrill Lynch team – had eight individuals, some with legal or accounting degrees or CFA credentials. Better yet, it had established a niche over the past decade of serving business owners with $5 million to $250 million of revenue — many of whom have or will soon be seeking specialized knowledge and connections to liquidate their holdings.
Mindy Diamond Quoted, The Wall Street Journal – Going independent is a dream of some financial advisers. But there is often plenty of fear mixed in as advisers contemplate breaking away from a big brokerage firm. They may worry that their clients won’t follow, they’re not qualified to run a business or their earnings will shrivel.
Mindy Diamond Quoted – By Joyce Hanson, ThinkAdvisor – Recruitment momentum in the registered investment advisor (RIA) and regional space should jump higher in 2013 after a slow 2012, as advisors in search of independence are now sufficiently prepared to make a move, recruiter Diamond Consultants reported Wednesday.
