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March 27, 2013 at 10:34 AM
Thanks to the addition of sizeable groups of reps from Investors Security and Eagle One Investments and other recruiting efforts, Securities America says it increased the level of recruited fees and commissions in 2012 close to 310% from the 2011 level.
“We’re perfectly situated to address two major advisor motivators for changing broker-dealers: advisors at wirehouses and large independent broker-dealers who want more responsive customer service, and advisors at smaller firms who want better technology and help growing their business,” said Jim Nagengast (left), CEO and president of La Vista, Neb.-based Securities America, in a press release.
Securities America executives also say that the firm is actively searching for a national director of recruiting. The broker-dealer was bought by Ladenburg Thalmann (LTS) from Ameriprise Financial (AMP) in late 2011 for $150 million. It has about 1,700 advisors nationwide; it says some 300 new reps were recruited over the past 12 months or so.
In early January, it added 30 advisors from regional broker-dealer Eagle One Investments of Washington, Iowa, as affiliated reps. The Iowa group has had about $4.5 million in annual revenue.
This news came just a couple of months after Securities America recruited 130 affiliated advisors from Suffolk, Va.-based Investors Security with about $1 billion in client assets.
“The financial pressures of running a successful broker-dealer today are squeezing many smaller firms to the point where it just makes sense to affiliate with a larger entity that can spread those costs across more advisors,” Nagengast said. “At the same time, they want support from home office employees whose names, voices and faces become familiar to them. Advisors want to know their business and their clients come first—and with Securities America, they can be confident in that.”
