By James Rogers, Financial Advisor IQ – The swift firing of a Merrill Lynch financial advisor over an alleged bias incident at a Connecticut smoothie store serves to remind other FAs that they work in a high-profile industry, and there are consequences to bringing bad publicity to their employer’s doorstep.
Louis Diamond Quoted – By Peter Rawlings and Ming Li, Financial Advisor IQ – Wirehouses fired fewer registered representatives in 2020 compared to the previous year, a Financial Advisor IQ analysis of data from regulators in the four most-populated U.S. states shows. But there are areas that firms are especially “dialed into,” including digital signature violations, non-sales practices or firm policy-related violations, says Louis Diamond, president of recruiting firm Diamond Consultants.
By Mindy Diamond, WealthManagement.com – Financial advisors at the big brokerages have witnessed a great deal of change in the firms over the past decade. Shifts in ownership, compensation and management have many of these folks acknowledging that the business is vastly different than it was back in the day or even just a few years ago.
By Mindy Diamond – Advisors at big firms find themselves in a zero-tolerance environment where infractions that once garnered a slap on the wrist now may be considered grounds for termination. Here’s how to protect yourself and your business in this new world order.
By Mindy Diamond, WealthManagement.com – Over the past several years, big brokerage firms have become more risk averse, creating an incongruence between advisors who want to provide a customized experience for their clients and compliance departments that continually want to tighten the box around them. Advisors at big firms have found themselves in a world driven by a zero-tolerance culture, where compliance departments rule with a heavy hand and management is focused on the lowest common denominator.
By Wendy Leung – With yet another high-profile termination of a multi-billion dollar advisor (referring to last week’s dismissal of Merrill’s $3-billion Chicago superstar), it becomes clearer that Barron’s ranking, status and length of service at a firm, star power and size of business are no longer the guarantors of job security. Here are 7 things every advisor needs to know—regardless of whether you feel secure at your firm or not
By Debbie Wallen – It’s no secret that firms have adopted zero-tolerance policies as a result of the hyper-compliant world we are living in. As such, we are seeing more and more wirehouse advisors being terminated for non-sales related issues – some infractions that many would consider absurd. Even the long-tenured and large producers – who once felt somewhat immune to such scrutiny – are finding themselves facing audits that have lead to unexpected terminations.
2016 can easily be described as a year of tumult and volatility. Yet, amidst all of the drama, firms are working to meet the challenges of a more stringent regulatory environment and business models are evolving. While advisors ride a roller coaster of change, new opportunities are emerging for those who keep their eye not on the headlines, but on their future.
By Mindy Diamond – The new hyper-compliant world has left many advisors with a pink slip in hand, thinking they have reached the end of their careers. Yet there are steps a terminated advisor can take to get back in business.
By Mindy Diamond Back in 2013, I wrote of a heightened and ever-changing regulatory environment catching even compliant advisors in its crosshairs. Two years later, we find advisors managing even greater levels of scrutiny, with high-profile terminations commanding attention in the media, causing unrest and downright fear for even the...
