The stock market's downturn is reshaping the retail-brokerage industry, with disgruntled clients replacing wirehouse brokers with independent representatives and financial advisers.
Considering the economy, the state of the stock market and the public's perception of Wall Street, the immediate outlook for the independent-brokerage business — like most financial services businesses — is anything but glowing.
The fantastic growth among independent broker-dealers came skidding to a halt last year, but the results were far from disastrous — with some firms taking advantage of recruiting opportunities despite the revenue declines.
Running a successful family financial advisory business is much tougher than the smiling portraits posted on many firm's websites would lead a client or prospect to believe.
Last week's layoffs and consolidation of key areas of operation at the three broker-dealers of the AIG Advisor Group only add to the confusion and uncertainty surrounding the network's future and the fate of its more than 6,000 representatives and financial advisers, sources said.
Three broker-dealers in the ING Advisors Network are facing another round of strategic reviews that could lead to their sale, an ING spokesman said this morning.
Morgan Keegan has been stung in another arbitration case involving its bond funds, this time losing a $950,000 claim to an ex-NFL Pro Bowl star with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Investors who are battling Morgan Keegan over the blowup of its bond funds are on a hot streak, with a former Major League Baseball all-star among the recent arbitration winners.
When Chris Wanken's dad, a branch manager affiliated with Raymond James Financial Services Inc., fired him last March, it ignited a smoldering family dispute that experts say might have been avoided with better planning.
