Chicago—“We’re holding small social events for clients; some bring a guest, and everyone has a good time, but…” Bob began. “We struggle with the follow-up. We’re not contacting any of the guests because we don’t want to appear salesy. Do you have any suggestions?”

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“Close” may be good enough for horseshoes and hand grenades, but it just doesn’t cut it for exchange-traded product (ETP) returns. Investors and their advisors are often surprised by the disparate results obtained from their exchange-traded note and fund allocations. The surprises are most often unpleasant and most especially associated with commodity based products.

So, what accounts for the variances between actual commodity returns and those earned by ETPs? The answer’s found in a single letter,“C.” Well, truthfully, it’s “C” times three: composition, contango and compounding.

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TD Ameritrade saw 95 breakaway brokers sign up last quarter, bringing average initial assets of $30 million each to the custodian platform, Chief Executive Fred Tomczyk said today after the parent company reported record revenue and record new client assets. The number of breakaways, mostly individuals plus a few teams, was up 36 percent from a year earlier, he told Registered Rep., but it fell within a range that the company has seen for several quarters now. There was a mix of advisors from the wirehouses and independent broker/dealers, but the trend was edging toward more b/d advisors making the move, he said.

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Father-daughter advisor team Martin Gelb and Sonya Gelb Choeff have jumped ship to Raymond James in Miami Beach, Fla., from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, as the fight for talent continues.

Of course, recruiting away from wirehouses is nothing new for Raymond James. In the last year, over 75 percent of the firm’s new recruits have come from wirehouse firms, said Scott Curtis, senior vice president at Raymond James’ Private Client Group. They come because they are fed up with the bureaucracy, and because they want more flexibility and independence, said Frank Amigo, Raymond James complex manager in Miami Beach.

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I really think most Lefties are idiots. James Fallows of The Atlantic magazine argues that the S&P ratings people are know-nothings and that the gub’ment (say in your best Michigan Militia accent) can just print money to inflate its way out of debt. Oh, that would be good for the capital markets and the world. You’ve got to read this lunacy.

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