Independent BDs

More than 300 reps have switched BDs so far this year, with LPL and Cambridge Investment Research completing the two largest grabs.

LPL advisor Kashif Ahmed tweeted his condition from the emergency room then focused on recovering, knowing his firm could run without him.

“I’d say independence is resonating with advisors now more than ever,” says recruiter Jodie Papike.

While CEO Jamie Price says tech capabilities rather than cost savings prompted the decision, he acknowledges the need to win over the reps who are now set to change firms.

The IBD network had been preparing for disruption, CEO Adam Antoniades says, and it has the financial flexibility it needs to boost financial advisors’ practices.

Financial advisors’ choices about capital infusions into their practices show “how this industry needs to evolve and mature,” Merchant Credit Partners Managing Partner Rick D'Amico says in an episode of Financial Planning’s Invest Podcast.

The privately held firm recruited more than 160 reps in the first quarter on the strength of its balance sheet, CEO Amy Webber says.

The No. 1 IBD added Securities America’s largest enterprise, whose founder says the firm’s new private equity-backed owner made him uncertain about the future.

Financial advisors, broker-dealers, custodians and other firms are trying to do their part amid a public health and economic crisis.

CEO Dan Arnold says the pandemic “will create some structural change across the market and the industry.”