Whatever the final SEC regulations are, it’s pretty well agreed that brokers will be operating under a more stringent fiduciary standard of care.

Given that, there will follow a dramatic transition for brokers and firms who will have to jump on the band wagon and add new technology if they want to continue to prosper.

The key word to the changes appears to be “advice.” Financial Research Corp.’s Chairman Bob Hedges said in a recent report “Rather than advice being incidental to trade execution, trade execution will be incidental to advice.”

This shift and anticipated new requirements calling for advisors, brokers and their firms to record and store all communication with their clients means firms will have to implement the tools needed to gather and store client data. Looks like their IT spending will skyrocket, along with some modification of their organizational processes and product development.

I’m certain will see some resistance and hear some “grumblings” within the industry.

Financial Advisor Recruiters - Recruitment Firm for Financial Advisor Jobs

Have your clients been hiding money in an off-shore account? No need to admit it here, but the IRS is offering another (the most recent previous one was in 2009) amnesty program through August 31, 2011.

Hidden offshore accounts currently risk detection by the IRS and the ensuing high penalties and possible criminal prosecution that accompanies it. Through the above mentioned date, however, voluntary disclosures will pay between a 5% and 25% penalty on their accounts as well as back interest.

While this is a steep price to pay, it is far from the penalties which will accumulate if the IRS discovers a hidden offshore account and decides to prosecute the account holder. In the long run, it’s a smarter decision to pay the rate than risk the penalties.

Financial Advisor Recruiters - Recruitment Firm for Financial Advisor Jobs

RBC announced a decrease in percentage of payouts for advisors generating under $300,000 in revenue in an effort to weed out smaller advisors. RBC is moving in a new direction and wants to attract more million dollar producers in an effort to double its productivity in 5 years.

Financial advisors who were generating under $300,000 were happy with their current payout as you can see by their attrition rate of 4-5% in the past three years. Now, RBC is going to get what they wanted; smaller advisors jumping ship. Are other broker-dealers going to follow suit?

RBC seems to be recruiting the larger advisors already and is well on its way to meeting its goal in productivity.

Financial Advisor Recruiters - Recruitment Firm for Financial Advisor Jobs

Are clients the new Breakaways?

Are they disenchanted with the wirehouses and moving their assets to the RIA’s?

Halah Touryalai researched and reported on client asset flows from the major wirehouses in the March issue of Registered Rep. Read and draw your own conclusions, but look carefully at the “Money and Advisors In Motion” chart at the end of the article:

Clients, the New Breakaways

Financial Advisor Recruiters - Recruitment Firm for Financial Advisor Jobs

If you are a financial advisor looking to grow your business, or if you are thinking of retirement and want to sell your practice, Cambridge Investment Research is launching a succession planning venture, under the name Continuity Partners Group, for 23 advisory firms in the Fairfield, Iowa broker-dealer network.

I note this because it’s an interesting concept ; not only will an advisory firm be able to take out a loan from Continuity in order to buy out another firm, but also a junior advisor can get funding to buy out a practice from a senior advisor.

The biggest issue with succession planning and continuity planning for advisors has always been financing because it costs so much to fund a buyout. The deal is that Cambridge will provide funds by selling stakes in Continuity, in exchange for 20% of annual earnings. The genius behind this concept is Eric Schwartz, CEO of Cambridge who also was the pioneer of the fee-based advisory business model.

So, you might have to take a look at it and ask yourself…in another 15 years is this going to be the “norm” and should I jump on it now? Is this another “visionary?”

Financial Advisor Recruiters - Recruitment Firm for Financial Advisor Jobs

It appeared that the rush of hiring activity in the wire house world over the past few months had finally tumbled, or at least slowed down, but not the case for Smith Barney.

In early April they recruited a $3 million investment consultant team from Wachovia in Plano, Texas and now this past week alone they have picked up 10 financial advisors with $1.4 billion in assets. Not only is Wachovia on their list, but UBS and Merrill asset managers have been nabbed.

What’s behind all this? Well, maybe to save face after reporting in its first quarter results that it had lost $66 billion in client assets as well as 2,582 financial advisors over the past year. (Maybe their new owner is pushing this?)

Whatever the reason for the rush of financial advisor job hiring activity, they’re offering some pretty competitive packages. It’s a good idea to contact one of our recruitment consultants today if you’re looking for a job in finance.

Financial Advisor Recruiters - Recruitment Firm for Financial Advisor Jobs