Aug 24, 2015
JERSEY CITY, N.J., Aug. 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- To remain competitive in today's financial advice industry, broker-dealers must recalibrate their relationships with their advisors, according to a whitepaper released today by Pershing LLC, a BNY Mellon company. The report, Why Teams Are the Client of the Future for Broker-Dealers, points out that changes in the advisor-client of the modern broker-dealer present different challenges and opportunities that broker-dealers must navigate. These changes provide broker-dealers with an opportunity to rethink their overall strategies to attract and retain top clients.
According to the report, the top client of today's successful broker-dealer is not a "rep" or even an "advisor" but an ensemble, which is a firm or a team of multiple professionals that service and manage client relationships. Ensemble teams are already controlling a significant percentage of broker-dealer revenue, growing faster than the average practice, servicing a higher-net-worth client base and offering better career growth opportunities. Most importantly, ensembles are net acquirers. They are acting as a successor for many of the smaller solo practices and are likely to emerge as the ultimate consolidators of the industry.
"Broker-dealers have formed traditional affiliation models around individuals, which don't necessarily work as well for ensemble firms," said Jim Crowley, chief relationship officer and managing director at Pershing. "However, broker-dealers that recognize and understand that their top client is a team rather than an individual will not only strengthen existing relationships with these clients, but will also position themselves for organic growth and strategic acquisitions."
While ensembles are valuable to broker-dealers, they are also at risk of being lost as clients. Many larger teams are departing broker-dealer firms to become independent. These advisors, known as breakaway advisors, are moving to a registered investment advisor (RIA) or hybrid business model. Industry changes continue to increase the possibility that successful teams will part ways with broker-dealers.
Despite the challenges, broker-dealers can successfully recruit, retain, and work with ensembles by better understanding how they work and by restructuring affiliation models. Pershing's report highlights actionable ways for broker-dealers to accomplish this, including:
To obtain a copy of Pershing's whitepaper Why Teams Are the Client of the Future for Broker-Dealers, please visit www.pershing.com/ourthinking.
About Pershing
Pershing and its affiliates provide global financial business solutions to advisors, asset managers, broker-dealers, family offices, registered investment advisor firms and wealth managers. A financial services firm located in 23 offices worldwide, Pershing provides business-to-business solutions to clients representing 6 million active investor accounts on the U.S. platform. Pershing affiliates are members of every major U.S. securities exchange, and its international affiliates are members of the Deutsche Borse, Australian Stock Exchange, Irish Stock Exchange, London Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange. Pershing LLC (member FINRA/NYSE/SIPC) is a BNY Mellon company. Additional information is available on pershing.com, or follow us on Twitter @Pershing.
About BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of June 30, 2015, BNY Mellon had $28.6 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.7 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.
Contact:
Cassandra Osei
+1 201 413 3394
cassandra.osei@pershing.com
SOURCE BNY Mellon