LionStreet: ROAD to INDEPENDENCE White Paper - Flipbook - Page 4
THE ROAD TO INDEPENDENCE
2
T HE FINANCIAL INDUS T RY ’ S
SHIF T T O INDEPENDENCE
There are significant parallels between the investment advisory and
life insurance industries from the distribution standpoint.
In the last 10 years, investment
advisors have been leaving
wirehouses such as Merrill Lynch
and UBS, and choosing to go
independent.
Since 2008, a wirehouse advisor’s
business card had become
a liability. Yet they had no
experience running a standalone
business. Instead, many chose
to affiliate with an independent
platform such as Commonwealth,
LPL Financial, or HighTower
Advisors. These offered scale,
better economics, and freedom
as well as immediate help with
operations, compliance, and
marketing.
In 2008, 21% of brokers breaking
away from wirehouses had an
average client size of $1 million
in assets.2 Well-capitalized Firms
like HighTower were particularly
successful attracting top brokers
who brought as much as $1B in
AUM away from big wirehouses. 3
Financial Advisors by Channel1
Independent
Advisors
30%
Banks &
Insurance
Companies
32%
Wirehouses &
Regional
Broker/Dealers
38%
In
42%
31%
2005
27%
2015
1. Tiburon, Financial Advisors Channels, 2015
2. Aite Group Survey of Financial Advisors, 2008
3. www.hightoweradvisors.com/news-and-insights
Dire
C