The Bridgemark Strategies Difference
Bridgemark Strategies is an advisor-centric consulting and recruiting firm. We work with advisors and advisory teams to help them evaluate their next transition. A transition is defined as changing broker-dealers, breaking away and starting or joining an RIA, or selling (or partnering) your business.
As part of our research we have talked to well over a hundred different solutions, including Independent Broker-Dealers (B/Ds), Insurance B/Ds, Employee B/Ds, RIAs, OSJs, Custodians, Aggregators, Consolidators and more to fully understand their capabilities, strengths, weaknesses, and key differentiating factors.
Our extensive research, along with decades of combined experience, and in conjunction with our unique process elevates Bridgemark Strategies’ ability to help advisors.
Solutions are customized for each advisor to help them evaluate and determine the right partner for their needs. When advisors are evaluating a transition of their business, whether it’s a change of B/Ds, becoming or joining an RIA, or selling or taking on a partner, advisors must identify and research different solutions. Most advisors not only don’t know where to begin, but frequently do not know how to compare firms either.
At Bridgemark Strategies, we work to understand your needs and goals as we help you find the best solution. When evaluating options, there are a few key areas to focus on which can be summed up in three words: Feel, Fit, and Financials™.
Feel is as simple as do you like the people at the solution firm, does it feel right? Advisors frequently know what they do not like and can discern it quickly on an initial call. However, when that first call goes well and they like the salesperson, then they begin to trust that salesperson. That trust of the salesperson can often supersede the need to learn the details about the firm.
Fit is learning the details of the solution firm to make sure it fits with your business. Fit is often one of the most critical categories and one of the areas many advisors spend the least amount of time evaluating. Often, advisors assume the products, services, and capabilities offered by their existing firm are the same everywhere. Products and services can vary greatly, even among two firms that may seem similar and are competitors. We have worked with advisors coming from dozens of different firms and we have learned a lot that firms would not want you to know.
The last category is Financials. The financials may seem like an easy item for an advisor to evaluate. Unfortunately, this can be one of the most difficult categories to truly understand and calculate. Different firms have different components that will be used to determine how profitable you are to them. The most obvious is payout, but it can also include other areas such as platform fees, production bonuses, trading costs and frequency, products selected, client fees, transition money, or even how many employees you have, or how profitably you run a business. Payout is often one of the least important numbers to compare when doing this analysis.
In addition to helping you assess the financial implications, we will also help you negotiate final terms. Bridgemark Strategies has decades of experience and research to help you navigate the marketplace an find the solution that has the right Feel, Fit, and Financials™ for your needs.
