Displaying items by tag: IBDs

(St. Louis)

Stifel is a well-regarded firm in our industry. However, one characteristic of it that doesn’t work for all brokers is that they have an employee model. This runs counter to many of the independents with whom Stifel often gets grouped. Well, that looks like it is about to change as the firm has just hired a leading executive away from Wells FiNet in order to grow Stifel’s independent side, which currently stands at only 90 advisors, or only 4% of their total advisors. The firm is rebranding its independent arm to Stifel Independent Advisors and is looking to recruit new advisors to join.

FINSUM: This seems long overdue in our eyes. Stifel is a great brand and there is untapped interest for advisors to join them as independents.

(New York)

Imagine you are an advisor at a big brand name broker-dealer or wirehouse. As much as you might gripe about your ever-changing compensation plan or the structures the firm puts in place, one thing you really like is that the logo on your business helps you win clients. Naturally then, losing that logo is a big challenge, both in terms of marketing, but also in terms you one’s own psychology. Therefore, when going independent it is critical to consider the marketing support you may receive. Many RIAs have next to none, or at least not much more than off-the-shelf options. However, some RIAs differentiate themselves through branding and marketing, such as leading investment concepts or customized marketing that empowers each advisor.

FINSUM: This might sound silly, but when considering whether to join an RIA google their name and check the Google News tab. Find key terms on their site (e.g. do they have any trademarked words?) and do the same. The firm’s marketing prowess will quickly become clear.

(New York)

2020 was a rollercoaster of a year and not just in financial markets. It was quite a wild year in recruiting as well. When the pandemic hit, advisor movement dropped off to a trickle, but in the summer it started to come back and was roaring in the second half of the year. 2021 seems like it will be much the same. Both large IBDs and RIAs are looking to increase recruiting efforts, and offer packages for jumping ship have been getting larger. Commonwealth, for instance is planning a major recruiting push this year, which builds on other big efforts from Fidelity and LPL.

FINSUM: This definitely feels like an advisor’s market for moves. Firms are hungry to recruit and advisors seem to have the upper hand in negotiations.

(New York)

2020 was a very unique year for recruiting. In particular, despite the obvious market and economic turmoil, it was a year in which almost all aspects of going independent got more favorable. Not only did working from home making recruiting conversations with new firms easier, but working from home itself made going independent seem less daunting. Further, firms’ appetite to offer great packages to recruit has grown considerably since this time last year, so it is certainly an advisors’ market when it comes to moving.

FINSUM: One other point to mention here is that clients themselves have also gotten more comfortable with their advisors being independent. The lack of office visits and growth of Zoom communication has limited the need for the big well-known logo in the office lobby when clients arrive. Independents seem likely to gain more market share.

(New York)

A new study from Cerulli Associates has found that wirehouses are performing very well in one regard—advisor productivity. The average wirehouse advisor has $175m in AUM, almost double the industry average of $77.9m. Even more amazingly, wirehouse productivity has risen from an average of $148m at the end of 2018 (to $175m at the end of 2019). However, wirehouses are still shedding many advisors to RIAs and IBDs. Cerulli identified two key reasons why. The first is as old as the industry itself—compensation. According to Cerulli, wirehouse advisors are growing increasingly tired of “complicated and sporadically changing compensation grids”. Additionally, support staff is an area where advisors are frustrated, reporting a lack of support staff as an issue at a far higher rates than at other BDs and RIAs.

FINSUM: Wirehouse advisors currently enjoy two advantages—brand strength and scalable firm-wide technologies. Neither is enough to stem the current outflows of advisors, and the technology aspect is quickly being eroded by improving tech stacks for independent advisors.