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One of the primary focuses financial advisors have is taking care of their existing clients while developing new clients and growing their business. The time spent focusing on compliance and paperwork is not a beneficial use of their time.

Breakaway advisors have to spend even more time transferring their clients’ accounts and making sure all the new account paperwork is filled out correctly. This is where the Super OSJ comes in. According to The Rise of the Super OSJ, Christina Mucciolo states,

“(The Super OSJ is) an extra large office of supervisory jurisdiction, or independent b/d branch that both supervises and provides consulting and business services to other independent advisors for a fee.”

Financial advisors either need to hire someone licensed to become an OSJ for the firm or they have to do it themselves. This could get very costly if you are paying a non-producer a six-figure salary to oversee all compliance issues. The fee for a super OSJ is usually based on a small percentage of the advisor’s gross revenues. These firms not only oversee compliance, but will help breakaway advisors with training and help transferring all accounts over with all the correct paperwork. These firms also offer as much or as little guidance as you need.

Patrick Sullivan and John Hyland of Morristown Financial Group say,

“80 percent of the advisors affiliated with Morristown Financial Group pay two percent or less on gross revenues. Advisors pay on a sliding scale based on production. The highest fee is 15 percent.”

Using a super OSJ will provide breakaway brokers with a smooth transition into the independent world in a fraction of the time.

Stuart Porterfield, former national sales manager for Wachovia Securities Financial Network (FiNet), says,

“While the breakaway broker trend has slowed a bit since 2009, it is not going to die out, and the kinds of brokers who will go independent in the future may be the very ones who most need the services of an OSJ. It used to be that only financial advisors who were wired to create, own and run their own small business would go independent, but these types only represent 10 percent of wirehouse advisors…”

With the ever-changing regulations in this industry, it gives advisors peace of mind that their compliance can be current and up to date at all times without all the hassle.