Merrill breakaway Lisa Van Walleghem of MAXIMAI shares why leaving the once “great school of experience” with a globally diverse book to form her own independent firm was the best way for her to serve her offshore clients and grow her business.
By Deborah Aronson – Among the myriad of challenges that advisors face today are the limitations that their own firms are imposing on who they can do business with and how. Minimum household requirements, mandates on how advisors price their fee-based business and changing compensation grids come with the territory of being an employee these days. And while strategic adjustments such as these aren’t necessarily a new phenomenon – given every publicly traded firm’s mandate to maximize shareholder value – today’s regulatory climate coupled with an increasing cost of doing business has made for a more difficult operating environment.