Independent BDs

Bleakley Financial Group also picked up an ex-hedge fund portfolio manager while expanding its national footprint.

The number is behind previous years, but the firm’s new head of business development says independence is more appealing amid the coronavirus.

Choosing their own technology for clients was a big draw for the advisors, who affiliated with Kestra.

The No. 1 IBD has completed three of the sector’s 10 largest recruiting moves of the year.

The majority of job cuts are in corporate departments, with little impact to advisors or client service roles, the firm says.

The broker hasn't been registered in over a decade, and was using clients’ usernames and passwords to make trades in their self-directed brokerage accounts, according to the regulator.

Some of the recently acquired advisors will open branch offices for the growing BD.

The firm’s National Financial Services allegedly failed to deliver certain basic information to clients in five public offerings of shares in a fuel cell technology company.

The advisor sold securities out of one account to buy a Camaro ZL1 — then resold the car to the same victim, the regulator alleges.

Lower transaction costs can often come with higher expense ratios at the nation’s largest IBD.

The new recruits include a 34-year industry veteran.

Focusing on “investment in leadership and access to markets,” the IBD aims to support reps and clients of diverse backgrounds, its head recruiter says.

The father-son practice with two other advisors switched their affiliations after its founder had spent 18 years with New York Life.

The latest roundup of news in the IBD and RIA channels comes in a time of economic turmoil and big transactions.

During Andy Kalbaugh’s tenure with the No. 1 IBD, its headcount grew by more than 50% to nearly 17,000 reps.

The firm will also pay a penalty and offer to buy back variable annuities the former broker sold to 21 other investors.

With higher compensation offers and a track record of independence, the No. 1 IBD is “challenging the status quo,” its head recruiter says.

The No. 1 IBD revealed new details of its W-2 affiliation after it followed rivals into the employee channel with an acquisition it made last year.

“We basically had clients demanding that we find a new home,” after Wells Fargo failed to secure PPP loans for them, an advisor says.

The number of advisors registering with FINRA has fallen since 2016, as more planners elect a fee-only model.