At Pershing, Opportunity

“I’ve never been as enthusiastic about the industry,” said Pershing LLC CEO Richard Brueckner in greeting attendees at the firm’s annual Insite gathering on June 3, while noting that “I’ve been in this business for 40 years.” Brueckner recalled the significant changes that have occurred in the industry since last year’s conference, and recounted Alan Greenspan saying at the 2008 Insite that “we’re in the 7th inning” of the downturn, but also the former Fed chief’s warning that we may be in a “26-inning game.” Brueckner told the 1,600 attendees and 114 exhibitors that Dr. Greenspan “couldn’t have been more right,” and that despite the encouraging performance of the market since early March, “it’s too soon to call the game.”

Brueckner then cited a recent survey that found that 80% of investors are thinking about changing their advisors. “Is that,” he pointedly asked the advisors in the audience, “an opportunity or a threat?”

In a private interview on June 5, Brueckner commented on the brewing re-regulation in Washington, saying “it’s an unbelievably great opportunity to redefine how we met out regulation across all financial products,” particularly, he said, since “there is a whole new set of customer expectations–they’re higher.” However, Brueckner also argued that “the government has the rules; we need better enforcement.”