Five Questions for a Top Broker-Dealer Executive

Why did you join Cetera?

Barnaby Grist: It was not a move that I expected to make. I saw something very special.

The core of what we’re doing is going out to accelerate the move of advisors away from the wirehouses.

Like the recent trend of SMA growth at the non-wirehouses — which is tied to the fact that consumers prefer the freedom, flexibility, lack of conflict and the boutique feel from the independent model — this movement is about advisors feeling trapped by the wirehouse-model’s walls.

How can broker-dealers like Cetera, which has about 5,000 FAs, help advisors make the jump to independence?

We are a large firm, the second- or third-largest in size in our market, with the technology, processes and other elements that advisors need to do their jobs as they want to, and we have the right talent and have streamlined many processes so they can be efficient.

We also have a multi-broker-dealer model.

The wirehouses are like the traditional department stores, but customers today want more flexibility and choice. These big stores won’t go away, but there’s more growth with the independent shops.

And, to continue with the analogy, advisors who want to work independently don’t have to set up their own shop; we do it for them, by offering them a pre-built shopping mall to do business in.

Advisors don’t have to get things like the plumbing or the permits sorted out. We provide this type of infrastructure – compliance – so they can focus on what they do best.

Plus, we give them choice with our three broker-dealers: Financial Network, Multi-Financial and PrimeVest.