Did it!
Left a big wirehouse Friday (guess) and went independent. Finra held up my license until this am and a glitch. I know I am working and going to work hard but so far I feel GREAT. And the response has been awesome so far
I sincerely wish you the best. I’m on the verge (with MSSB).
Congrats, mlgone. Nothing like feeling euphoric and scared shatless at the same time. Best of luck.
Good Luck and I bet you made the right chioce.
Rock on!!!
Good Luck!
I’m jealous…but I’m not far behind!
We left a wirehouse in April. The team agrees this was the best business move we have ever made. Transition has gone smoothly. Best wishes, and to anyone considering a departure, we highly recommend it!
There is absolutely nothing like it. We can’t believe the opportunities that now present themselves.
Congrats, it is a great feeling!
You will love it. I left Morgan Stanley in 2002. It was the best thing I ever did.
I wish everyone on this forum the very best in their move to the independent space. Have fun and enjoy yourself. From the Advisors I’ve worked with who have gone independent, I commonly hear, “Fred, I should have done this years ago…”
Reach for the stars everyone!Your a better man then me. It was so scary. I living hell for 3 months. it worked well, but happy? F no I HATED IT.Left a big wirehouse Friday (guess) and went independent. Finra held up my license until this am and a glitch. I know I am working and going to work hard but so far I feel GREAT. And the response has been awesome so far
mlgone,
What if anything did you not plan for now that you made the jump? Any objections that you weren’t ready for? I’m not far behind you and just tying up some loose ends.
Thanks!
Your a better man then me. It was so scary. I living hell for 3 months. it worked well, but happy? F no I HATED IT. [/quote] You hated the transition, or hate being independant?[quote=mlgone]Left a big wirehouse Friday (guess) and went independent. Finra held up my license until this am and a glitch. I know I am working and going to work hard but so far I feel GREAT. And the response has been awesome so far
Congrats ! I did it too…After 16 years w/ Morgan and Smith Barney I finally realized that there had to be another way. Found it ! Went LPL. Lots of different options available for the guy wanting to go indy. Good luck and if you have an office outside of your home make sure that you keep your fixed expensed in check.
You guys are screwed, no one will follow. We have had 4 FA's leave our office this year and not one has moved 50% of their assets so their books are toast. I was just made aware after six months of their clients who followed we will re-engage these clients by soliciting them from our regional director's (clients who count) Apparently FA's who have left, their cients are unhappy with customer service, limited investment services (independents and regionals). Don't do it, wait until times are really good to make the move. Most of the success stories on these boards are recruiters making things up, trying to PM you. I have no reason to make anything up.Left a big wirehouse Friday (guess) and went independent. Finra held up my license until this am and a glitch. I know I am working and going to work hard but so far I feel GREAT. And the response has been awesome so far
You guys are screwed, no one will follow. We have had 4 FA's leave our office this year and not one has moved 50% of their assets so their books are toast. I was just made aware after six months of their clients who followed we will re-engage these clients by soliciting them from our regional director's (clients who count) Apparently FA's who have left, their cients are unhappy with customer service, limited investment services (independents and regionals). Don't do it, wait until times are really good to make the move. Most of the success stories on these boards are recruiters making things up, trying to PM you. I have no reason to make anything up.[/quote][quote=mlgone]Left a big wirehouse Friday (guess) and went independent. Finra held up my license until this am and a glitch. I know I am working and going to work hard but so far I feel GREAT. And the response has been awesome so far
You sound like a hysterical wire branch manager who has been losing advisors left and right to the indy channel. As a wire advisor, why would you care if other FAs left your branch? If anything, it would benefit your business.
Look, at the end of the day it all comes down to how your book was built and how strong your client relationships are. If you originated the bulk of your business and have worked hard to service these clients, they will follow. If the majority of your practice is composed of reassigned or inherited accounts and you haven't really engaged these clients, they probably won't follow.
I disagree with the blanket statement that clients won't follow because this is a bad market environment or the indy platform doesn't have the same variety of investment options as a wire. Every advisor and book of business is different.
I will say the onus is on the advisor to do the proper due diligence before jumping ship. If you don't and you make an uninformed decision, the scenario you presented above will happen.
There is much anxiety and confusion about how many clients will follow an advisor into an independent practice. I opened my practice about 9 months ago. Here’s what I found after leaving what many consider the toughest wirehouse to transition out of and in the midst of the worst financial crisis in a generation.
90% of "A" clients have come on board. Obviously some regrettable attrition, but very pleased so far. 80% of "B" clients. Again, I am pleased. 50% of "C" clients. The majority of these were inherited accounts or somewhat stagnant, low velocity accounts. I was happy to have them aboard, but didn't knock myself out trying to get them. So, all-in-all right about 75% of total client relationships, but about 85% of previous revenue. If you plan on these types of retention #s I don't believe you'll be disappointed. Interesting side note is that many folks that I knew socially suddenly became very interested in becoming a client once I opened my own biz. Also, referalls are up. So "regrettable attrition" is quickly being recovered by new business.85% retention x indy payout = more net income. You are way ahead. Good Luck.
Great post Northfield. The biggest suprise to me have also been the referrals. You will find, as I have, some who didn’t move to you early will later. They want to check your situation out for awhile. I had some old clients open new accts with me early on and do business. After the first year, the transfers started coming over. SO stay in touch with all…
Glad to read success stories for brokers leaving. My office has been just the opposite. One team with 300mm assets and 2mm production left in early 08. Disaster!! They lost over 50% assets and the team broke up within a year. Their book was mostly inherited from retired FAs and I think that’s one of the reasons it did not go well. Also, many MFs could not be transferred in kind, so problems with the ACATs.
On a side note, FAs that have come from other firms to my office have not done much better. Why do I get the sense that a lot of people left this year while their fee-based numbers were still fairly high? (on a T-12 basis). My BOM brags about his hires but their numbers suck!
moving is stressful. Your a liar if you say it isnt.
Makes sense. I think if all the clients are "your" clients (as opposed to inherited crap), they are more likely to move with you. Those first interactions when when you initially "sell" someone on you and/or your firm tend to be some of the most powerful. If you never have those, you miss the "courtship" routine, when you learn a lot about a client. Thus someone feels more married to the firm than the FA (that is, unless you do an excellent job of developing a relationship after you inherited the account). You can always tell who has great relationships with their clients, because the clients will always say "I'm with B24", not "I'm with Edward Jones, or I'm with Merrill Lynch" or whatever.Glad to read success stories for brokers leaving. My office has been just the opposite. One team with 300mm assets and 2mm production left in early 08. Disaster!! They lost over 50% assets and the team broke up within a year. Their book was mostly inherited from retired FAs and I think that’s one of the reasons it did not go well. Also, many MFs could not be transferred in kind, so problems with the ACATs.
On a side note, FAs that have come from other firms to my office have not done much better. Why do I get the sense that a lot of people left this year while their fee-based numbers were still fairly high? (on a T-12 basis). My BOM brags about his hires but their numbers suck!
Just made the move to Indy as well. So far the response from clients has been excellent. I honestly feel like a tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders. Just couldn’t take all the bs and distractions anymore.
I’ll keep you guys posted on my progress but if any of you are thinking of leaping…now is the time!
Omar, you left a bank correct ?
For those that have left and started … how badly was your productivity hurt?
Consider: Leaving GDC, M3 before you went Leaving GDC, M2 before you went Leaving GDC, M1 before you went New GDC, M1 after you left New GDC, M2 after you left New GDC, M3 after you left[quote=LockEDJ] For those that have left and started … how badly was your productivity hurt?
Consider:
Leaving GDC, M3 before you went
Leaving GDC, M2 before you went
Leaving GDC, M1 before you went
New GDC, M1 after you left
New GDC, M2 after you left
New GDC, M3 after you left
[/quote]
Not bad enough that it wasn’t worth it.
Ron14,
Yup…left bank program.
Omar, glad you finally left that poopshoot. You just regained 5 hours a week of your life by not having to dial into all those conference calls.
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