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May 21, 2007 5:18 pm

This firm is a sprawling nut tree. It is publicly held, hires and trains people in the business, disturbs public complacency about saving and investing and transferring risk through advertising. The firm takes the raw elements from the ground and air and manufactures nuts ( clients with money invested in the markets). Some of these nuts are proprietary and more profitable to the tree. Others are made by other trees and are nonproprietary.

A big tree gets hit by lightening ( lawsuits). It creates its own environment, tries to push the regulatory environment with its products, is both a target and a massive wealth factory, creating both client raised awareness and money, and experience and knowledgeable planners.

The tree is really worried about the squirrels, since a lot of advisors are going independent or RIA. The really big trees are trying to make special fruits that the squirrels can't handle, some of the proprietary trees are trying to focus on being special, while offering a wide range of products. In both cases, these proprietary trees have been guilty of inadequate disclosure about fees to clients, of course now their clients are being disclosed to near premature death, and the branded broker dealer trees still survive and thrive, because they help create wealth from nothing.

Another firm is a squirrel, or a family of squirrels. They steal nuts from the big tree to get started, have a convincing story about how what they do for their clients is better. These squirrrels are good wealth stewards, they also exact a tax in the form of eating some of the nuts. Sometimes, they think their sh*t doesn't stink, they might even righteously use a squirrel story to get some business. Most never forget that they grew up on the big tree, some are even nostalgic but most appear to be bitter about their roots.

When the tree and the squirrels can finally see the forest, there will be more business than anyone can handle. That forest is millions of regular people who need and want an advisor, and the floor of that forest is a regulatory environment of full disclosure, which in case you have not noticed, has arrived.

This is just a stupid squirrel story, so don't get your intellectual undies in a bundle.

May 21, 2007 5:22 pm

Are squirrels from one tree allowed to sleep with squirrels from other trees?

May 21, 2007 5:32 pm

 You got it.

May 21, 2007 5:41 pm

I didn’t know that trees could see…

May 21, 2007 5:50 pm

My theory is, about the time we're overpopulated with about ten billion people, and humanity is forced to confront what is really important, we'll be seeing a lot of things for the first time.

On a lighter note, , how does it feel to be labeled as being affiliated with third or fourth tier outfit?

May 21, 2007 6:46 pm

[quote=rollinrock]

My theory is, about the time we're overpopulated with about ten billion people, and humanity is forced to confront what is really important, we'll be seeing a lot of things for the first time.

On a lighter note, , how does it feel to be labeled as being affiliated with third or fourth tier outfit?

[/quote]

It doesn't matter what they call you.  What matters is what you answer to.