I quit RJ. Went to

Jul 12, 2009 3:11 am

Harbor Financial.   



The move seems pretty smooth and clients are reacting well to the news. Moving from RJ means the same ac#'s, checks, online access and a statement that is similar. Payout is 100% minus 1100/mo and ticket charges for stock and mf trades.   Friends already at HF are happy.



I’ll let you know how the move works out. Harbor clears through Raymond James and you have an option to trade on the institutional platform at TD and they take approx 20 bps. Seems like a great career move and although I am 48 hours into this client retention is 100%.   



Jul 12, 2009 1:09 pm

Actually, it seems more like you recruit for Harbor. But if not, they SHOULD hire you. And WHY exactly are clients thrilled that you left Ray Jay? Never heard many complaints about them.

Jul 12, 2009 1:28 pm

I like the payout structure. Good luck. 

Jul 12, 2009 2:35 pm

Tarpon

What was it about RJ that made you leave? And how is it that clients have the same a/c #'s and checks - is that because RJ clears?
Jul 12, 2009 7:45 pm

HF clears through Raymond James so if you work at RJA or RJFS your clients make a seamless move. Clients are pleased in general because of the manner in which I approached them. This will allow them to maintain their current relationship with RJ and allow me independence and a higher level of service. I had absolutely no say in anything at my old office.    



I’m not here to beat the Harbor drum but I will if the time comes. All in all it boils down to control.

Jul 12, 2009 8:37 pm

So it was your office, rather than something at RJ that you were unhappy about?

Jul 13, 2009 2:24 pm

So you can trade on the institutional side of TD and only get charged 20bps instead of ticket charges?

Jul 13, 2009 3:10 pm

I have heard some very positive things about Harbor.  Enough so that if I decide to change broker/dealers, they would certainly be on a short list.

  BTW, congratulations tarpon...I hope your move continues to go well.
Jul 13, 2009 3:31 pm

what does that $1100 include? CRM, morningstar, e&o?

Jul 13, 2009 4:04 pm

This seems to be the new way. And it makes sense for both parties. The B/D gets a guaranteed stream of income for each production level on a monthly basis. The rep gets 100% minus the monthly fee which is based on production…



The only concern i have is increases in the monthly fee. For most b/ds your production determines your payout… i.e. you do $250K, you get 90%… So i determine what my payout level is. I would hate to xfer to harbor(as an example) and two years later because of an increase in back office expenses they raise my monthly fee to 1500 or even 2000.

Jul 13, 2009 6:45 pm

Does RJ portfolio review tool combine everything or would I still need Albridge(hate that software).



I am guessing the clients statement through RJ say Rj on them somewhere?



That is a sweet set up with TDA. 20bps for unlimited trading.



Any ideas what ticket charges are on the RJ side?

Jul 17, 2009 6:39 pm

Do you need $250 to get in like RJ?

Jul 17, 2009 8:07 pm

I requested a kit today to get some more details. They said the TDA thing has only been around since Feb.

Jul 17, 2009 8:09 pm

Are there tickets similar to RJs?

Jul 17, 2009 9:12 pm

Poon Tang - I mean Tarpon. You still didn’t answer why you left Ray Jay. I’m curious. I, along with B24, haven’t heard any bad things about Ray Jay.

Jul 17, 2009 9:28 pm

[quote=MJ]Poon Tang - I mean Tarpon. You still didn’t answer why you left Ray Jay. I’m curious. I, along with B24, haven’t heard any bad things about Ray Jay.[/quote]

and your 6 months in the business qualifies you to have opinions on other firms?  Shut up Windy.

Jul 17, 2009 9:33 pm

[quote=voltmoie]

[quote=MJ]Poon Tang - I mean Tarpon. You still didn’t answer why you left Ray Jay. I’m curious. I, along with B24, haven’t heard any bad things about Ray Jay.[/quote]and your 6 months in the business qualifies you to have opinions on other firms? Shut up Windy.[/quote]



I said I haven’t heard anything bad about Ray Jay. Jiz Stain. Stop calling me this Windy dude.

Jul 18, 2009 1:06 am

[quote=MJ]Poon Tang - I mean Tarpon. You still didn’t answer why you left Ray Jay. I’m curious. I, along with B24, haven’t heard any bad things about Ray Jay.[/quote]

He answered the question schmuck. He said he had no say in his old office. He obviously wanted to run his own show.

Jul 18, 2009 1:40 am

My bad. I didn’t see it. No reason to be an asshole.

Jul 18, 2009 1:44 am

Cant help it, you did the same thing when you were posting as Windy, didnt read the posts

Jul 22, 2009 2:38 am

Whoa… the package of info I got from harbor today, makes then sound real deceptive.



So they charge you $1100/month all inclusive except for ticket charges. Then they add on 10 other charges that I have found… what’s the point… why not just say $2000/month+ ticket charges…



They have charge 50bps on fee accounts through RJ.

120bps on accounts through their 3rd party managers

And talk about screwing someone their ticket charges are insane(For example $6.00 charge + 10% commission on all outside mutual fund business)

$15/month for email…



Can someone explain why I would pay a flat rate and still get nickeled and dimed…





Jul 22, 2009 3:06 am

I don’t mean to sound overly critical here, but RJ is a joke.  A lot of people are flocking there b/c there name is on freaking baseball stadium and people feel like that is a warm and fuzzy place to go if you are coming out of a wirehouse right now.  Let’s be real, RJ & LPL are the wirehouses of the Indy world.  There are plenty of smaller BD’s out there with platforms that are more than suitable to run your business and you won’t get nickeled and dimed to death like you will at RJ or LPL.  I can’t speak as well about LPL, but my firm was with RJ for 20 years before we started our own BD in 2005.  Compliance is a nightmare at RJ especially when it comes to annuity business.  They don’t let you sell L share annuities.  They haircut product … ie skim 1% off the top of annuity commissions and up to 30 bps on the 1% trail (so you net .70).  Their ticket charges and program fees for fee based accounts are significantly higher.  They pocket the 12b-1 fees in fee-based account instead of giving them to the FA or rebating back to the client.  Another thing you need to realize about RJ is that they are self insured.  There is no E&O policy.  So, if sh*t hits the fan, like maybe for Auction Rates since that’s still an issue for them, they choose whether they will come out of pocket and pay.  You know who else was self insured … Stanford.  Oops, sorry about that.  Just my 2 cents.

Jul 22, 2009 3:24 am

Looking for a B/D that Harbor was suppose to be. $1100/month plus tickets. with no haircuts on anything. with access to fee platform that has unlimited trading(or allows a certain amount of trades/month). Am I asking for too much?

Jul 22, 2009 4:43 am

So Harbor would have no problem with me putting all my assets with TD(lady on the phone said the program has only been up and running since feb of this year)?

Jul 22, 2009 4:25 pm

IF and this is a big IF …



You are interested in the Raymond James platform, you might want to consider Cantella & Co - they’ll clear through RJ. They offer a straight 90% payout, plus $150 a month. Naturally, if your business reaches a certain point Harbor Financial makes the better deal.

Jul 22, 2009 7:39 pm

Harbor looks like they are trying to attract the guy who wants to do all fee but not have to deal with starting an RIA(especially with that TD ameritrade platform)

Aug 5, 2009 9:26 pm

[quote=mrclutch] I don’t mean to sound overly critical here, but RJ is a joke. A lot of people are flocking there b/c there name is on freaking baseball stadium and people feel like that is a warm and fuzzy place to go if you are coming out of a wirehouse right now. Let’s be real, RJ & LPL are the wirehouses of the Indy world. There are plenty of smaller BD’s out there with platforms that are more than suitable to run your business and you won’t get nickeled and dimed to death like you will at RJ or LPL. I can’t speak as well about LPL, but my firm was with RJ for 20 years before we started our own BD in 2005. Compliance is a nightmare at RJ especially when it comes to annuity business. They don’t let you sell L share annuities. They haircut product … ie skim 1% off the top of annuity commissions and up to 30 bps on the 1% trail (so you net .70). Their ticket charges and program fees for fee based accounts are significantly higher. They pocket the 12b-1 fees in fee-based account instead of giving them to the FA or rebating back to the client. Another thing you need to realize about RJ is that they are self insured. There is no E&O policy. So, if sh*t hits the fan, like maybe for Auction Rates since that’s still an issue for them, they choose whether they will come out of pocket and pay. You know who else was self insured … Stanford. Oops, sorry about that. Just my 2 cents.

[/quote]

Aug 5, 2009 9:44 pm

MrClutch,



RJ a joke? Really… I can’t speak to how things were five years ago but I can speak to how they are now. 12b-1 fees are rebated back to the client in fee based accounts in non fee based they are credited to the FA. Our annuity plat form puts me at a competitive advantage. RJ limits comp on VAs to 5%. The carriers cut there expenses to the client. For example, Lincoln and Pru contracts are about 25 bps to 35 bps cheaper in expenses than the same titled product at UBS or LPL. So yeah I get paid less but the clients expenses are much less. There is an E&O policy. I get a copy of it every year. It is not billed as a separate line item but is bundled in with the $250 a month affiliation fee. To compare RJ to Stanford is nuts. RJ is self clearing so I feel like I am not getting nickeled and dimed to death. The staff in St. Pete to FAs in the field is very high. The service level is great compared to wirehouse levels.

Aug 6, 2009 12:58 pm

It’s $6.00 for mutual fund trails

Aug 6, 2009 1:00 pm

[quote=chief123] Whoa… the package of info I got from harbor today, makes then sound real deceptive.



So they charge you $1100/month all inclusive except for ticket charges. Then they add on 10 other charges that I have found… what’s the point… why not just say $2000/month+ ticket charges…



They have charge 50bps on fee accounts through RJ.

120bps on accounts through their 3rd party managers

And talk about screwing someone their ticket charges are insane(For example $6.00 charge + 10% commission on all outside mutual fund business)

$15/month for email…



Can someone explain why I would pay a flat rate and still get nickeled and dimed…





[/quote]



Was on a webex yesterday and saw the whole platform. Very impressive. Seems to makes sense as long as you are doing $70K + each year.

Aug 6, 2009 2:27 pm

That’s what it looked like on the sheet they sent me. Also direct business is $6.OO/trade plus 10% of commission or sales credit with $27.00 max.

Aug 6, 2009 2:29 pm

http://www.raymondjames.com/advisorchoice/rjfsicd/pdf/payout_comp.pdf



this has some details

Sep 29, 2009 4:10 pm

Now that I have been at Harbor for about 2 1/2 months I can answer some of these quesions about fees.  I can tell you I do not feel nickled and dimed.  Harbor is a good outfit.

As far as fees, I am looking at my blotter and my average ticket charge on stocks is about $25.00, bonds is $50.00 and my trails this pay period was (rounding out) $798 and I netted $789.00.  Fee's like email, s&p, market q, etc come to about $250/month.  You get paid 2x a month and once a month they take out the $1100.00.   My biggest concern was health insurance as I have a pre-existing condition.  The cobra charge was about $1250/month for the family.    I ended up just getting cobra for myself at $350.00 per month(Cigna same as previous coverage) and my wife and son got a separate policy from Aetna(I think) for $250 a month.  It is not one of those high dedcutable policies either.  After 18 months of cobra I will have to shop for myself.   I am setting up a corporation so in 2010 hopefully I can deduct my health premium as an expense.   I would recommend Harbor.