Can Producing while You Manage Make You Better at Both?

You’re not likely to find many branch managers like Jim Pekelder these days. He’s a complex director for Wells Fargo Advisors in Omaha, overseeing 31 reps in his own branch, and another 30 spread among a half-dozen smaller offices. Pekelder’s complex assets total about $5 billion, certainly enough to keep him busy (and well-compensated). But, with the help of a junior partner, he also manages 1,200 of his own client accounts worth about $130 million in assets.


That would make Pekelder a very busy man—and somewhat of a rock star, frankly. But like anybody else, Pekelder entered the industry as a lowly young rep, and like other reps of his vintage, he endured seven corporate mergers and five back office conversions—only to come out the other side as the manager of a large complex.

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Multi-Financial Comes Out of Hiding with Big Growth Plans

Independent broker-dealer Multi-Financial is undergoing a major growth initiative, ramping up its recruiting, wealth management platform capabilities and practice management services, said President and CEO Brett Harrison. Recruiting is already up 900 percent from last year, and the firm has brought on $9 million in production in the past five months, and plans to add $20 million in total production this year.

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Wirehouse Firms Get Creative with Recruiting

Following a period of record-breaking advisor movement in 2009, wirehouse firms found themselves in a recruiting downturn in 2010. Financial advisor attrition was high because so many FAs left for the independent side of the business, while those who remained in the wirehouse channel became difficult to poach — the best of them were paid hefty retention packages to stay in their seats. A change was needed to breathe new life into traditional recruiting channels. Anxious to best each other and to beef up their ranks, wirehouses began getting creative: They began recruiting from non-traditional firms like banks and independents and other smaller firms, as well as from the third and fourth quintiles of production (for example, advisors with six years in the business, and $260,000 to $340,000 in annual production) as well as advisors with decent-sized books looking to retire.

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Switching to Independent Model Keeps Up Pace

Migration to the independent financial advisor model—independent b/ds and RIAs—is likely to continue unabated in 2011, a Fidelity Investments survey about advisor and broker sentiment released today suggests. Just over half of financial advisors and brokers say the independent model has gotten more attractive in today’s economic environment, and seventy percent say it will have the greatest earnings potential of all business models over the next 18 months, according to the survey.

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