Foremost among them is the ability to weigh five choices: forming or joining a registered investment advisor, forming or joining a broker-dealer, or creating a hybrid RIA/broker-dealer firm.
Next, the program enables advisers to weigh the ability of individual firms affiliated with Pershing to meet their needs, or contact a Pershing representative for the support to establish their own independent business.
Then, the “Does It Pay to Switch” calculator allows advisers to drill deep down into the costs and benefits of doing business with the various companies, including overhead, compensation, legal services and office space. This is coupled with the Interactive Business Model Comparison Chart that advisers can use to compare various affiliation models’ payout, product access, marketing and technology support, compliance and more.
There are also anecdotal stories on advisers who have successfully made the switch to independence, and access to industry experts who can speak on starting a business, compliance and marketing.
“Attracting and retaining quality talent is crucial to broker-dealers, and is becoming more challenging as business models continue to evolve,” said Jim Crowley, managing director of the global customers group at Pershing. “Our Advisor in Transition program is designed to introduce our broker-dealer customers to advisers considering an alternative affiliation and communicate the benefits of these alternative models.”
