Two recent surveys lend credence to suggestions that the Wall Street meltdown may drive more financial advisers to independent firms from wirehouses.
To attract disaffected wirehouse reps, more independent financial firms are signing on to the industry's recruitment protocol.
Seven in 10 financial advisers prefer working for a nationally recognized company over an independent advisory firm, according to a yet-to-be-released survey.
Advisers tell me that broker-dealers are not created equal when it comes to technology support.
Regional and independent brokers such as LPL Financial, D.A. Davidson & Co., Raymond James Financial Inc. and Stifel Financial Corp. are thriving while brawnier brokers struggle, but the firms' executives have deep concerns even as they rev up their recruiting.
LPL Financial plans a spirited defense against claims that it was negligent in its supervision of a rogue broker who allegedly stole $5 million from at least 40 victims, many from his church in Phoenix.
The following is an edited transcript of the round-table discussion. It was moderated by InvestmentNews news editor Bruce Kelly and InvestmentNews reporter Jed Horowitz.
Some representatives and advisers wonder whether their broker-dealer will be able to cut it, and broker-dealer executives are dealing with the trials — and prospects — presented by the financial-markets crisis.
At a time when major investment banks are failing, the independent-advisory business is flourishing, according to a recent research report.
LPL Financial has agreed to pay a $275,000 penalty for violating customers' privacy, the Securities and Exchange Commission said Thursday.
Securities America Inc. has made a splash in the roiling mergers and acquisitions market for independent broker-dealers, and it could make more waves soon.
With operational costs growing and financial advisers in short supply, the demand for talent has put the value of young financial planners at a premium, according to industry guru Mark Tibergien.
Jim Nagengast was named president of Securities America Inc., the broker-dealer unit of Securities America Financial Corp.
In the wake of moves this month by Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. and First Allied Securities Inc. to acquire broker-dealers, more deals for independent-contractor firms are on the horizon, according to industry observers.
One of the broker-dealers in the ING Advisors Network Inc. is on the brink of losing representatives and advisers who generate $21 million in fees and commissions to rival firms.
In the wake of a security breach that affected more than 10,000 clients, LPL Financial has taken several steps to increase data protection.
AIG Advisor Group, continuing to play a game of musical chairs with the executives in charge of its various broker-dealers, has replaced James Cannon with Jeffrey Auld as president and chief executive of both AIG Financial Advisors Inc. of Phoenix and American General Securities Inc. of Houston.
AIG Advisor Group continues to play a game of musical chairs with the heads of its various broker-dealers, this time replacing James Cannon with Jeffrey Auld, who becomes president and chief executive of both AIG Financial Advisors Inc. of Phoenix and American General Securities Inc. of Houston.
Last week's order that Next Financial Group Inc. stop violating privacy regulations when recruiting brokers upended a key tenet of independent-contractor broker-dealers: that independent representatives — and not broker-dealers — are at the center of the relationship with the clients.
