Jim Lorenzen, CFP®, AIF®
The short answer is ‘no’. Mark Tibergien, CEO of Pershing Advisor Solutions, is quoted in this month’s issue of Wealth Management saying, “When we look at those who are breaking away [from traditional brokerages] and forming their own firms, we recognize that they are making a fundamental change from being an employee to being a business owner, from being a broker to being a fiduciary advisor and from being a product advocate to being a client advocate.”
According to the article, written by Mindy Diamond, president of Diamond Consultants, a nationally-recognized boutique search and consulting firm in Morristown, N.J. specializing in the financial services industry, here are just a few of the things she mentions to look for:
- Ability to serve the client first. Captive advisors, she says, essentially serve as product advocates for the firm and are limited to the products and platforms approved by their firms. Independent advisors, on the other hand, serve as client advocates with access to the whole of the market – the ability to ‘shop the street’ for products and solutions that best serve the client.
- Higher level of transparency. At an independent firm, safe asset custody is separate from the advisor’s business and product manufacturing, creating a process of checks and balances.
- A clearer payment structure. Unlike the wirehouses, independent advisors aren’t paid according to a grid – a performance measurement based on selling ability and not meeting the client’s needs. Higher production levels result in a higher percentage commission payout from the firm to the advisor. Independent advisors are business owners with fully disclosed compensation that’s easy to understand.
- Ability to select the technology and services that best suit their clients – not what the ‘house’ provides.
It’s worth noting that independent registered investment advisors (RIAs) have legal fiduciary status automatically. This may not be true in all instances when the advisor is considered an RIA representative only for the planning stage but reverts to registered representative (RR) status for product selection and implementation.
It pays to know who you’re dealing with.
Jim
Jim Lorenzen is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional and an ACCREDITED INVESTMENT FIDUCIARY® serving private clients since 1991. Jim is Founding Principal of The Independent Financial Group, a registered investment advisor with clients located across the U.S.. He is also licensed for insurance as an independent agent under California license 0C00742. The Independent Financial Group does not provide legal or tax advice and nothing contained herein should be construed as securities or investment advice, nor an opinion regarding the appropriateness of any investment to the individual reader. The general information provided should not be acted upon without obtaining specific legal, tax, and investment advice from an appropriate licensed professional.
