Nothing is more frustrating than having to call clients for another signature because you either forgot paperwork, your broker dealer didn’t let you know of a new disclosure form or your assistant didn’t give you the right application before you drove 3 hours to a client meeting except…
changing broker dealers again!
With the introduction of the new Department of Labor- Best Interest Contract – coming up in 2018, insurance companies selling off their broker dealer relationships or accounting scandals forcing your broker dealer into bankruptcy, changing broker dealers seems to be more common than a variable annuity 1035 exchange.
Advisors spend between 3-6months looking through broker dealer kits, visiting new broker-dealer headquarters, sitting through eye glazing technology demonstrations and convincing their staff that changing firms is a necessary evil. That’s on average! Larger groups can take between 1-2 years before finally pulling the trigger. Then comes the fun part. Thousands of unfamiliar new account forms to populate, new login screens, new passwords, new disclosures, new procedures, new day to day procedures-
NEW EVERYTHING!
The entire transition process can take upwards of six months or more to be 100% complete and the same goes for staff to be acclimated to the new broker dealer procedures. Then, once the dust settles, once all your clients are moved over, once you start getting back to your daily routine, once you start making money again- you find out your firm is either being sold to another private equity firm, consolidated to another broker dealer, or a scandal/arbitration has hit it so hard that it may not survive. Now what?
Your hands and fingers still haven’t recovered from the callouses left from typing out new forms and getting hundreds if not thousands of signatures from your clients- And now you may have to do it all over again???!!!!
Here are 3 tips to help you avoid giving up on this business and heading to the bar for a life of alcoholism…
- Don’t Stress Out – Usually larger broker dealers with deep pockets are the only ones that have the resources to acquire other firms. That can mean better technology, more products and a nice menu of resources. It can also mean a retention bonus for you as well. Notice that we didn’t say better service or lower fees. Larger firms lack personalized back office support and are usually more expensive.
- Take your time – It takes about 15 months before you start seeing any negative or positive changes in fee structure, culture changes and other resources. This time period can provide you the opportunity to feel things out and work on your, “just in case” Emergency Exit Plan.
- Call a 3rd Party Recruiter – Calling someone like RepRecruit can give you an unbiased look at your current firm and provide insight at what other reps are doing. |They can also give you a lay of the land to help you narrow down better firms based on your business mix, culture, technology needs, payout requirements and transitional bonuses. RepRecruit will flat out let you know if it serves you to stay with your current firm or start looking.
Give us a shot- it’s 100% confidential and at no cost to you! Sometimes the best move is not making a move at all and we can help you determine that.