Broker-dealers sold just $362.3 million in nontraded BDCs last year, the least since 2010, which was the year after the first product was launched, according to Robert A. Stanger & Co. Inc.
The first investor arbitration claims involving the products have been decided over the past few months, but the claim against Arete Wealth Management appears to be the first substantial win for investors against a broker-dealer.
Moody's Investors Service this month gave a shot in the arm to the parents of Advisor Group and Cetera Financial Group when it raised its credit outlook from negative to stable for both. Advisor Group is home to 10,500 reps and advisers and Cetera has about 7,500 under its roof.
COVID-19 and increased competition slowed down recruiting in 2020, according to CEO Paul Reilly. Now, the firm is beefing up compensation to advisers who are employees.
The brokers with outages or problems include the most prominent names in the discount and online brokerage industry, including Fidelity, the Charles Schwab Corp., TD Ameritrade, ETrade Financial Corp. and Robinhood.
Record profitability in wealth management in the Americas was driven by growth in loans, separately managed accounts and adviser productivity, the company said.
The loan program was aimed at buoying businesses with less than 500 employees; while National Securities surpassed that number of reps and advisers, those were not employees, but rather independent contractors.
Gregory Estes had faced earlier charges of child sexual abuse, which were dismissed. Estes, who has been a registered rep with SA Stone Wealth Management Inc. since 2012, now faces four charges in total.
CEO Charlie Scharf is making classic changes to streamline and reduce costs at Wells Fargo's Wealth and Investment Management unit, which houses Wells Fargo Advisors.
CEO James Gorman, who worked at Merrill Lynch before joining Morgan Stanley in 2006, said that last year was the first time in decades he had not seen "net attrition," or a net loss, of advisers. "We're bringing in $20 billion every five weeks," Gorman said.
