Independence Declared

Jan 5, 2009 5:45 am

On Thursday, I dropped my letter and resigned from SB, and went independent.   And I’ve spent the entire weekend alternating between feelings of euphoria and panic.

I’ve been reading the threads in this section with a lot of interest, and I have to thank you for your contributions.  You’ve been very helpful, without necessarily intending to be.  I’ve learned a lot.  Icecold, Snaggle, Chief, Indy1, Squash–and a handful of others that just aren’t coming to mind right now.  

All the best to everyone in what will be another challenging year, but one in which wirehouse assets have never been more ripe for the picking.

Jan 5, 2009 1:38 pm

[quote=Bodysurf]On Thursday, I dropped my letter and resigned from SB, and went independent.   And I’ve spent the entire weekend alternating between feelings of euphoria and panic.

I’ve been reading the threads in this section with a lot of interest, and I have to thank you for your contributions.  You’ve been very helpful, without necessarily intending to be.  I’ve learned a lot.  Icecold, Snaggle, Chief, Indy1, Squash–and a handful of others that just aren’t coming to mind right now.  

All the best to everyone in what will be another challenging year, but one in which wirehouse assets have never been more ripe for the picking.

[/quote]

The panic will last for a few days. The euphoria never goes away as long as you keep reading this forum.

Jan 5, 2009 3:17 pm

Just make sure you don’t let up… Some people make the mistake of xfering just enough because of the increased payout and they forget about the expenses that start to pop up…

Jan 5, 2009 3:30 pm

[quote=Bodysurf]On Thursday, I dropped my letter and resigned from SB, and went independent.   And I’ve spent the entire weekend alternating between feelings of euphoria and panic.[/quote]
Congratulations. 

Feelings are overrated.  The key is your activity.  I trust you spent the entire weekend meeting/talking with clients and getting ACATs/new account paperwork signed and submitted. There will be time to contemplate your feelings later.  Now is the time to keep your petal to the metal and get signatures.

Where did you go?


Jan 5, 2009 3:46 pm

Don’t know how I forgot Moody and Morph, with over a thousand posts between them.  It was late.
Moved to a small BD and RIA called Harbor Financial.  Just a couple of hundred advisors, clear through Raymond James.  My new office will be five floors up from my old one.
Thanks gents.

Jan 5, 2009 3:54 pm

[quote=Bodysurf] My new office will be five floors up from my old one.[/quote]
Ah.  So unquestionably a "move up!"

Sorry.  Couldn’t resist that.  I’m sure your clients will like that sort of thing though!

Jan 5, 2009 6:24 pm

Good luck with your move and yes…please let us know how you like Harbor.  I’m always curious what else is out there as you never know when the information could come in handy.

Jan 5, 2009 7:21 pm

The title of this thread reminds of the episode of The Office where Michael “declares” bankruptcy.  If declaring independence was only that easy!

Jan 5, 2009 7:34 pm
Bodysurf:

Don’t know how I forgot Moody and Morph, with over a thousand posts between them.  It was late.
Moved to a small BD and RIA called Harbor Financial.  Just a couple of hundred advisors, clear through Raymond James.  My new office will be five floors up from my old one.
Thanks gents.

  I considered this firm(but not enough) it seemed pretty simple monthly charge based on your 12 GDC and then 100% payout. What I could never understand was if there were ticket charges invovled(obviously there are, but I couldn't find out if they were charged and then you get the 100%(thats not 100%) or if that was included in your monthly charge).   The other thing was their really close relation to RayJames.. It seemed like you essentially used RJs stuff but were under a different name. The fear was what if RJ decided not to let them use it anymore, then what happens... But I am sure that Harbor is somehow owned, run by or indirectly owned by RJ..
Jan 5, 2009 10:20 pm

[quote=Bodysurf]Don’t know how I forgot Moody and Morph, with over a thousand posts between them.  It was late.
Moved to a small BD and RIA called Harbor Financial.  Just a couple of hundred advisors, clear through Raymond James.  My new office will be five floors up from my old one.
Thanks gents.

[/quote]

I’ll have to admit that I was a little stunned when you failed to mention my name. You’re welcome.

Jan 13, 2009 1:03 pm

Stay as busy as you are in the first 60 days, for the following 300 days.  Every person you see is a seed planted for the future.  What is so cool about going indy is that you are villified, energized and it all goes for you, as you are the product.  If you are unable to get 98% of the clients you want to make the change…keep it up.  I think you lost them by the end of 3 months.  Also, do not give away the store to get clients to come over.  This is also time for you to clean house and start over fresh.  If you have some pain in the necks, set them straight or move on.  Your new-found energy will rub off and you will replace them anyway!

Jan 15, 2009 6:44 am

I am pretty confident that Raymond James has no ownership in Harbor Financial Services. Harbor uses Raymond James for clearing but also just setup a relationship with TD Ameritrade on the RIA side. The firm is also in discussions with National Financial Services to setup a secondary clearing agreement.

  A little bird gave me this info...
Jan 16, 2009 7:19 pm

Congrats Bodysurf!  I left roughly a year ago after a little over ten years at SB. 

I've had three of my buddies stop by over the last week or so to check out my digs. They are all considering leaving also. I can tell you will complete honesty I have ABSOLUTLY NO regrets.  I make more, have greater ability to service my clients in a top notch way, have many times less stress, better tax write offs, and an office that is twice as nice as my little cherry wood finished box I was in.    An get this, I am treated in a respectful, honest, polite way!  That took me a long time to get used to.  No more rude incompetent nonenglish speaking unhappy people in  NY to talk to either when I need help with something.  It was a real shock for awhile.   Hammer hard until you get your assets.   My very best wishes to you!            
Jan 16, 2009 11:28 pm




Thanks Freeeddie.  So far, everything’s been great.  And with all the turmoil at Smith Barney Frank Discover or whatever they call themselves, I’ve been getting some feel-out calls already too.  I think there are another half dozen or so going to bolt in coming weeks.