Refer Madness 

May 1, 2005,

By Anne Field

About a year-and-a-half ago, John Marshall surveyed his client roster and decided it was time to go after the really big bucks. The likeliest avenue,...

What About Your Retirement? 

May 1, 2005,

By Mindy Diamond

Brokers often take a shortsighted view of their careers, and this usually turns an effort to convince them to think about their own retirements into an...

Your Newest Rival: Your Firm's Own Private Bank 

May 1, 2005,

By Will Leitch

Tom, a financial planner for Schwab Institutional's unit, had a client named Walter. He had worked with Walter for almost 10 years, knew his family and,...

A Perilous Position? 

Apr 1, 2005,

By Erin Schulte

Rick Peterson, a Houston recruiter, places about 75 clients a year. But when firms come to him to scout out branch office managers (BOMs), those who'd...

Buyer's Recourse 

Apr 1, 2005,

By Anne Field

For advisors looking to expand a practice quickly, purchasing a book of clients was once the most expedient solution. Robert Enright learned the hard...

Should I Stay or Should I Go? 

Apr 1, 2005,

By Mindy Diamond

The process of deciding to change firms often hinges on concrete comparisons of compensation, of working conditions, of relations with management. But...

The Psychology of Money 

Mar 1, 2005,

By Anne Field

Five years ago, Tom Carstens began working with a new client, a successful executive making $3 million a year. At first glance, he seemed to promise a virtual avalanche of new business. But, after 12 long months, the client had agreed to make almost no investments at all....

The Bird in the Hand 

Mar 1, 2005,

By Lori Widmer

A persistent myth of the brokerage industry is that prospecting is the best way to expand a practice, however, advisors are far more likely to profit from expanding relationships with existing customers....

Unbundling the Financial Supermarket 

Mar 1, 2005,

By André Cappon

Once upon a time some 20 years ago securities and insurance firms were dens of incest, with product manufacturing married closely to sales. Securities...

New Sheriff in Town? Don't Play the Heavy 

Mar 1, 2005,

By Julie Sturgeon

Warren Bischoff was the new guy twice over when he took the branch manager job at RBC Dain Rauscher's Washington, D.C., complex in 2002. But he wasn't...

Does Your Client Have That Personality? 

Mar 1, 2005,

By Pam Black

When Jim King sits down with clients for the first time, he hands them the usual forms and risk-assessment questionnaires and a Myers-Briggs personality test, the same one used by top corporations to size up potential hires. I've found it useful for clients, to get an idea of their decision-making process, says King, owner of JP King & Associates, an RIA firm in Walnut Creek, Calif. And it helps me tailorr my presentation of information about financial matters to that client."...

In the Same Boat 

Feb 1, 2005,

By Ruth Halcomb

The bitter public battle over the Pritzker family fortune offers a fishbowl view into how large sums of money can strain family ties. The Pritzkers, who...

Why More Reps Are Getting Their Kicks on Route 66 

Feb 1, 2005,

By Pam Black

Not long ago, becoming a registered investment advisor (RIA) was hardly considered a rep's best career move. In the early years of this decade, many of...

Small Game Hunting 

Feb 1, 2005,

BY David A. Gaffen

Anthony Sasso, who lives in Tinton Falls, N.J., with his wife, knows he's not Harbor Lights Financial's biggest client. He's 70 and recently retired....

Customize Your Career 

Feb 1, 2005,

By Mindy Diamond

A decade ago, if you entered the financial services business and wanted to deal with the public, you had limited choices. You could go to a wirehouse...

Nothing Succeeds Like Succession 

Jan 1, 2005,

By John Churchill

Two years ago, Dennis Miller was climbing toward the icy summit of Pico Orizaba, Mexico's tallest mountain. At 18,000 feet, he lost his footing on the...

Money for Maturity 

Jan 1, 2005,

John Churchill

A shaky market environment in 2004 didn't stop the largest brokerage firms from fighting tooth-and-nail for the best reps, and, heading into 2005, similar...

The Broker and Brand X Syndrome 

Jan 1, 2005,

By David Gaffen

The 1984 movie Repo Man had a number of irreverent things to say about society, but none so memorable as its nose-thumbing at the nation's obsession with...

Poor Little Rich Kids 

Jan 1, 2005,

By Anne Field

A few years ago, Eric Lutz got a call from a distraught client about a talk she'd had with her daughter's kindergarten teacher. It seems the kids had...

Wachovia Goes Halvesies 

Jan 1, 2005,

David A. Gaffen

Keep it simple, stupid: That's the idea behind Wachovia Securities new grid one that offers a round 50 percent payout to brokers, once they pass a $9,000...

A Clean Escape, With an Accomplice 

Jan 1, 2005,

By Mindy Diamond

Brokers tempted to leap at a lucrative job at another firm are often held back by inertia, but in increasing numbers they are finding the powerful force...

Meet the New Boss, Different From the Old Boss 

Dec 1, 2004,

David A. Gaffen

November's news that Bob Mulholland was leaving Merrill Lynch wasn't entirely a surprise. He had been co-head of the 14,000-strong retail brokerage unit,...

Registered Rep.'s 2004 Broker Report Cards: A Case of Too Thin 

Dec 1, 2004,

By John Churchill

As effective as cost-cutting can be, there comes a point in every business diet when there is no more fat to cut. Such is the case now in the brokerage industry ...

Packing the Parachute 

Dec 1, 2004,

By Mindy Diamond

Success in the brokerage industry can be as much about mindset as anything else, so it comes as little surprise that advisors avoid negative thoughts,...

I've Got Your Back 

Dec 1, 2004,

By Anne Field

The image of the strong, silent loner is a powerful one in this country, but it loses some of its potency when applied to the modern brokerage industry...

Practice Makeover 

Dec 1, 2004,

By Anne Field

Gary Hager leaves nothing to chance, especially when prospecting for new small-business clients. His efforts start with brainstorming sessions he holds...

My Cousin Says 

Nov 1, 2004,

By Mark Henricks

The calls started not long after Doug Charney completed a comprehensive investment plan for a new client, a young man who had recently come into a sizable...

The Advisor as Traffic Cop 

Nov 1, 2004,

By Will Leitch

An A.G. Edwards broker recently found himself in the midst of a competitive conversation of the sort that is likely to become more common among high-net-worth...

Wealth Transfer? What Wealth Transfer? 

Nov 1, 2004,

By David A. Gaffen

The fabled, massive wealth transfer the Holy Grail of the financial services industry. Back when economists were simply talking about what the WWII generation...

From Top Dog to Compliance Monkey 

Oct 1, 2004,

By David A. Gaffen

My, how times have changed. What Peckham used to do as a manager all by himself takes six people now. While he still has a prominent role in helping advisors...

When the Loan Comes Due 

Oct 1, 2004

Q: Like many brokers, I switched firms three years ago, joining a wirehouse offering a seven-year forgivable loan as upfront payment. Since hiring on...

Quirks Beget Perks 

Oct 1, 2004,

By Anne Field

Creative thinking can mean the difference between average and superior performance in a number of industries, and the brokerage biz certainly is one of...

Sunny Days 

Oct 1, 2004,

By Nick Ferber

How high can you go? It's a question all brokers and recruiters should be asking. We are near all-time highs for broker acquisition packages, actually...

The Weight of Words 

Sep 1, 2004,

By Anne Field

It's a paradox confronting brokers all over the country: In a business climate that calls for ever-increasing advisor-client intimacy, financial professionals...

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow 

Sep 1, 2004,

David A. Gaffen

In the name of client freedom of choice and the of personal financial information, you won't have to steal client addresses and phone numbers any more...