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February 01, 2010 at 02:00 AM
Over the past few years, there has been a massive feeding frenzy among broker-dealers. Financial advisor recruiters (sharks), both independent and proprietary, are always out there slowly swimming amongst the broker-dealers looking for signs. The recruiter never sleeps and must keep the cold calls flowing through his gills or he will lose his paycheck and die.
Like a Great White searching for an injured tuna, the FA recruiter is searching for an injured broker-dealer. In reality, the broker-dealer doesn’t have to be actually injured, it just needs to appear injured or weakened. Once that first drop of broker-dealer blood seeps into the ocean, every shark for thousands of miles knows it. Excited over the prospect of an easy meal, the frenzy begins.
Many of you have been the target of the frenzy. For those of you who haven’t, let me share with you how it works. At first it’s innocent enough: a phone call or e-mail from a friendly Mr. Shark asking if you’ve ever considered changing broker-dealers. When pressed to find out how the shark got your number, he stammers… it is simply a miracle. He can’t explain it.
After the seventh phone call of the day you start to realize something is a little fishy. By this time a friend or colleague points out an article from one of the financial trade publications. There it is, a picture of your CEO refuting unfounded rumors and touting the strength of his bleeding tuna. Before you finish the article, you notice there are four phone calls waiting for you…none from clients or prospects.
After work, while sharing a couple dozen martinis with your co-workers, you discover that Mr. Shark has called them all. Suddenly, you feel cheap and used. As you and your associates talk, one of them inevitably asks, “Do you think maybe our tuna is bleeding?”
