Advisor news
Financial advisor career news from Willis Consulting
Big Firm Advantage: Multiple Compensation Models
[pullquote] I think they're at a huge advantage because they can offer one-stop shopping[/pullquote] Financial advisor recruiting trends are pointing towards continued consolidation of independent firms, and movement of big teams. One of the most significant trends we...
Demand High, Supply Short For Top Financial Advisors
“Although the job market for all advisors is robust, the talent shortage among firms catering to extremely wealthy clients is particularly acute. That's good news for advisors, but a problem for firms hoping to expand.”* The talent drought is causing firms to pay...
Regulatory Agencies Facing Budget Cuts
Congress is preparing to cut the budgets of the SEC and the CFTC at a time when their roles as financial regulators are expanding. Just this week, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved a 5% cut in the budgets for the remainder of the year. The House passed the...
Recruiting Trends…Roundtable Video
OnWallStreet.com ‘s Annual Recruiter’s Roundtable video is available below. Emphasis is on the key trends for recruiting in 2013. Bill Willis, President and CEO of Willis Consulting Inc is one of the eight members of this prestigious group and frequently writes...
IS GOING INDEPENDENT GETTING EASIER?
FinancialAdvisor-mag,com ran an interesting article by Gregory Bresiger this week based on a Friday morning roundtable sponsored by Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services, which sells RIA, custody and clearing services to reps and firms that are independent or...
WIREHOUSES OFFER BIG INCENTIVES TO FINANCIAL ADVISORS THIS YEAR
As the economic outlook improves, grid payouts show stability and new incentives are being added to induce financial advisors to strive for more growth. As the four wirehouses unveiled their compensation plans for 2013, the changes all seemed to have one thing in...
Gold Bullion International (GBI) Rolls Out RIA Platform
Registered investment advisors with clients wanting to hold actual gold, silver, platinum or palladium in their own name can now help their clients directly by tapping into GBI Advisors (GBIA), a system billed as the first online platform that lets RIA’s store...
Financial Advisors Turn to Team Structure
“In 2012, almost seven in ten advisors (69%) operated in a team-oriented structure, up from 61% in 2011. Among bank advisors, more than half (53%) worked in teams, according to the research.” * Versus going “solo”, the new research by Cerulli Associates, found the...
FINRA Bows To Political Reality
Smiles are on the faces of RIA advisors as Richard Ketchum, chairman and chief executive of the self-regulatory organization, which oversees the U.S. brokerage industry, told Reuters he was bowing to political reality, and pulling back from his campaign to regulate...
Morgan Keegan No More
Raymond James Financial plans to drop Morgan Keegan from the name of its fixed-income arm later this month. The announcement was made during the first quarter earnings conference in late January by Raymond James chief executive officer Paul Reilly, who updated...
Is Now the Time to Switch Firms?
[pullquote]before regulators turn you and your book into a sitting duck[/pullquote]As the debate over financial advisor compensation disclosure heats up, some advisors who have “thought” about switching firms are now looking at a move before the disclosure issue is...
2013 Advisor Recruiter Roundtable Forecast
OnWallStreet.com’s annual Recruiter Roundtable met in January with discussions on future issues within the industry and the prognosis for financial advisor recruiting in the months to come. As you may know, Bill Willis, President and CEO of Willis Consulting, Inc. is...
Raymond James Changes Pay Grid for Financial Advisors
“This is the first significant change to our grid during my almost 20 year tenure at Raymond James,” Tash Elwyn, president of the firm’s Private Client Group, said in a phone interview with On Wall Street last week. “With this new grid we have achieved our goal of...
Free Risk-Tool Available for Financial Advisors
Riskalyze, an online risk profiling tool, has launched a free version for advisors. Using its proprietary Risk Fingerprint technology, Riskalyze quantifies risk tolerance and matches it to the appropriate model portfolio. The free version was announced on the...
MSSB to Cut 6% of Investment Banking and Trading Units?
Not official yet, but an “unidentified” person “in the know” released the information last week to FA-mag.com. The rumor has it that 1,600 jobs within the investment banking and trading units will be slashed in the coming weeks, about half of them within the United...
Financial Advisors Angered Over FINRA’s Proposal for Bonus Disclosure
It didn’t take long for financial advisors to react to FINRA’s January 4 proposal to Regulatory Notice 13-02, which would require member firms to specifically disclose the financial incentives they give to the representatives they recruit. And overall, the wirehouse...
Disclosure of Signing Bonuses Proposed by FINRA
“Wall Street brokers who are lured to new firms with signing bonuses of at least $50,000 would be required to tell their clients under a rule proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.” (OnWallStreet.com, Jan 7, 2013, Zech Faux “Brokers to Disclose….”)...
Series 7 License After Joining an RIA
Finance industry recruiters are often asked, from advisors considering a move to an RIA, what happens to their Series 7 license if they join an RIA firm, which requires an active Series 66 or Series 65. Can they “hold” and maintain the Series 7 in case they wish to...
Tech Revolution for Financial Advisors to Continue in 2013
More mobile apps and technology developments are on the horizon for financial advisors in 2013. “Advisors’ use of technology grew exponentially in 2012, and that growth shows no signs of stopping in 2013. As tech keeps evolving, advisors are eager to use those...
Finance Industry Recruiter: Wirehouses to Focus on Asset Growth in 2013
Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Wells Fargo—need to pay close attention to two areas in order to boost their market share: profitability and financial advisor compensation. “The need for the large firms to increase their hold on the market comes as studies...