Articles by Bridgemark Strategies

The flexibility custodians provide advisors are forcing OSJs to explore starting their own RIA to remain competitive.  As OSJs look to add advisors, they need to provide more resources and flexibility to attract advisors and differentiate themselves.  Being a hybrid firm with their own RIA is becoming one of those differentiators for firms.   Read More

The need to recruit new advisors,  fueled by the insatiable appetites for growth of private equity firms who own BDs and RIAs as well as the short term focus of publicly traded companies is going to heat up the recruiting wars and money available for the rest of the year.   Read More

There is an expression we all know, "the cobblers kids have no shoes".   The metaphor implies cobblers are too busy helping their clients instead of themselves.  This can often be true of advisors as we see statistics in the industry supporting that theory, such as majority of advisors that don't have a succession plan or are too busy to focus on their own business. This article highlights many of the things advisors should focus on and should use this time where they are home to do so. Read More

Increasingly advisors are evaluating becoming their own RIA and the risks and rewards of doing so.  This trend has created a new segment of firms for advisors to evaluate.  Hybrid-Super-OSjs, these firms can provide the scale that includes more affordable compliance and technology as well as a multi-custodial platform which advisors are seeking.  Some of these solutions are even owned by the IBD where others just look to partner with IBDs.  Anyone evaluating their own RIA should also consider this group as they are rapidly gathering assets and scale. Read More

The recruiting wars are here.  It was just a matter of time before it happened to the Independent BD and RIA space.  With so much money being invested by private equity firms into IBDs and RIAs, we were going to inevitably have recruiting wars that was going to drive up deal prices.  The one thing all of these institutional investors have in common is an insatiable thirst for growth.  Be careful not to get caught up in "the deal" and do your due diligence for the right fit. Read More

Super-OSJs are not only here to stay for the long term, but some of them may outlast the Broker-Dealers.  There is no arguing that these firms are also competing and some are struggling in a margin compressing environment, but like so many other industries, the strongest won't just survive, they will thrive. Read More