Independent Broker Dealer Recruiting

In a recent article written in InvestmentNews Jodie Papike is quoted talking about Independent Broker Dealer recruiting in the first quarter of 2015.

“Last year was a really good year for a lot of major independent broker dealers, with a lot of change in the marketplace that spurred some movement,” said Jodie Papike, executive vice president at Cross-Search, a third-party recruiting firm focused on independent advisers. “Without a lot of negativity [this year], firms have sort of stalled a little bit in recruiting.”

Last year, many Independent Broker Dealers experienced tremendous success recruiting advisors away from firms that were going through major changes. These changes took the form of broker dealers that went out of business, were consolidated or had big cultural shifts within their back offices.

In contrast, this year we have not seen as much change, which contributes to the slower recruiting between firms. Another contributing factor leading to the slower movement relates to the strong markets.

“Whenever markets are good and clients are happy, the pain points advisers tend to feel lessen a bit,” she said. “That can change very quickly if there continues to be any kind of consolidation or changes taking place at the big firms.”

“The continuing strength of the market is helping to satisfy advisers who otherwise might have been looking for a move but that could change, especially if the industry undergoes major consolidation in the year ahead”, Ms. Papike said.

The slowdown in recruiting in the first part of 2015 is making it an ideal time for advisors to consider a move if they are not comfortable with their current broker dealer. Independent Broker Dealers are typically more aggressive and more willing to negotiate in times where there is not as much movement.

For the full story on Independent Broker Dealer Recruiting click here- http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20150426/REG/150429941

In the search for a new broker dealer…..

Forget about the payout

In this InvestmentNews column “It’s about more than Broker Dealer payouts”

Investment News broker dealer payouts

Jodie Papike breaks down the decision facing many advisors- to either join a Broker Dealer offering the highest payout/up front money or a firm that has resources that can actually help grow their business.

I frequently get questioned by advisors, who are looking for the best possible “deal” from a broker dealer, to explain why some broker dealers charge more than others for their services. I have been asked on more occasions than I can count, “what does a broker dealer really do for me anyways?”

As a way to outline how firms have changed and just how much they bring to the table in todays environment, below are some of the highlights of what they can now offer and why a search should include more than just a broker dealers payouts.

The more robust firms offer various services such as-

• Turnkey marketing assistance- this saves advisors a tremendous amount of time and can include everything from weekly or monthly newsletters/emails, branding services, website development, branding consulting and social media guidance.

• Business consulting- Broker dealers are now helping advisors to be as efficient as possible and can make recommendations as to where and how they allocate resources. Various broker dealers now have the ability to perform an analysis of an advisors practice, helping them to identify where they might be able to increase efficiency. Long gone are the days when an advisor is solely responsible for everything involved in the functions related to client portfolio management along with the decisions involved in running a business. This outside advice and guidance goes a long way to assistance advisors run a streamlined and efficient practice.

• Education- Training, coaching and programs to educate advisors are now available to advisors at firms that are focused on investing back into their advisors. These offerings are expensive, but for various firms have proven to be more than worth the cost, as they assist advisors to take their practice to the next level.

The Independent broker dealer environment is extremely competitive. This competition has pushed many firms to increase their offerings to attract new advisors as well as retain existing ones. For advisors open to possibly paying a little more to a firm, these services are proven to expand ones business.  I would encourage every advisor to look beyond the broker dealer payout

Changing broker dealers is a major decision for any advisor. Finding the right fit for your practice is like putting together a 500 piece puzzle as a multitude of factors need to be explored before a decision is made. We understand the importance of the right fit between an advisor and the Independent broker dealer they choose to partner with because we have seen the difference that partnership can make. And although doing due diligence on broker dealers can be a time consuming process, we feel it’s as pertinent as any other business decision and deserves time and attention. While advisors typically know to investigate the more obvious broker dealer characteristics such as payout, product availability and technology, the independent broker dealer landscape has changed. Those standard questions are no longer enough. The following are just a few of the lesser explored broker dealer characteristics that we continuously monitor to help determine which broker dealers will be a good fit for the advisors we work with. (more…)

We have seen more changes in the Independent Broker Dealer landscape over the past few years than ever before.   Long gone are the days when a broker dealers main function was to process transactions and pay their advisors on time.

Today, we are seeing top Independent broker dealers serving as partners to their financial advisors, investing profits back into their firm in areas such as technology, practice management and marketing to help their advisors be more efficient and therefore grow their business with more ease.

Advisors that are at broker dealers that have not expanded their offerings frequently call us feeling that there must be more out there.  Can the grass really be greener? (more…)