I didn't look at LPL, felt they were too big, and I liked the idea that RJ was already a public company. It gave clients comfort of transparency.

I would imagine they are the same in terms of their platforms, breadth of services, etc.

But RJ has a culture that is well established. The culture at LPL, (and i don't know the culture), whatever it is, is about to change, with the IPO. So i think there are unknowns

[quote=Sportsfreakbob]

I didn't look at LPL, felt they were too big, and I liked the idea that RJ was already a public company. It gave clients comfort of transparency.

I would imagine they are the same in terms of their platforms, breadth of services, etc.

But RJ has a culture that is well established. The culture at LPL, (and i don't know the culture), whatever it is, is about to change, with the IPO. So i think there are unknowns

[/quote]

Nice insight and perspective!  Very appreciative!

Depends what channel of RJ..they have 3 indy channels and 3 branch channels.. and an RIA channel..

[quote=iceco1d]

-RayJay haircuts annuities, LPL does not.

-Payout is higher at LPL, especially for larger producers (up to 98% vs. 85 - 90% at RayJay).

-RayJay had/has pretty bad ARS issues.

-LPL's future is uncertain, with the IPO. 

-LPL is larger (whether you consider that a pro or a con).

-RayJay has more "channels" to pick from (bank, ria, indy, indy contractor, employee, etc.).

-RayJay's production standards are (much) higher than LPL's.  

Both firms are generally pretty good; don't hear much "bad" about either of them. 

[/quote]

Thanks Ice

Just to mix things up, I would encourage you to look at some smaller firms.  I know it's easy to automatically look at the two indy giants, but I think you will find more flexible platforms and compliance and larger product offerings from good small/mid size firms.  In my opinion, small is the new big.  LPL & RJ are essentially wirehouse firms of the indy world and do have reputations for being a bit more expensive fee-wise.  PM me for some other firms to consider, if you would like.  Good luck.  This is a great business.

Just to clarify, RJ doesn't haircut annuities, they mandate the annuities are less expensive to the client, and that all vendors pass through a lower payout to the advisor. They are not keeping a higher payout. The client is paying less to own the annuity. It's how they proactively have attempted to keep their noses clean on impending annuity liabilities...