The B-D's $1.3 million settlement with the regulator involves its failure to supervise adequately a complex series of transactions involving variable annuities and whole life insurance policies.
The financial services firm is back in the ballpark for pay packages to experienced, employee financial-adviser recruits, according to its CEO. Recruiting bonuses are typically in the form of a percentage of an adviser’s annual fees and commissions.
The wirehouse reported strong results, but also disclosed a significant hit from trading losses after the implosion of the family office and hedge fund Archegos Capital Management.
For years, Wells Fargo Advisors has touted its in-house investment management and planning platform for clients and advisers, called Envision. Now, it is introducing the outside eMoney Advisor.
Last year, the 25 largest independent broker-dealers reported $26.6 billion in revenue, an increase of 4.3% from 2019. Although financial results were far from spectacular, growth at leading IBDs last year was resilient in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and the havoc it caused for the broader stock market.
The newcomers had criticized Blucora for mishandling the broker-dealer, Avantax, calling it a potential 'gem of the wealth management industry.' The shareholders reelected the 10 current board members.
The independent broker-dealer, backed by Reverence Capital Partners, is suing an annuity company owned, in part, by the same private equity firm.
CEO James Gorman never could muster much enthusiasm for ETrade Advisor Services, which would have been a direct competitor to the bank's 16,000 financial advisers.
A struggle for seats on the board of Blucora Inc., which owns the independent broker-dealer Avantax Investment Services Inc., is heading for a showdown. Blucora has purchased two broker-dealers in half-a-dozen years to expand into the wealth management business.
The wirehouse reported new records for net new assets of $105 billion, up 43% from the end of December and an increase of 183% from the same period a year earlier. 'My target is $10 trillion of money under management,' said CEO James Gorman. 'I've told the team internally, they hate that.'
