Pershing Launches Program to Help Wirehouse Advisers Transition

Pershing said the program is designed to help wirehouse advisers explore alternative affiliation models—like joining or starting a broker/dealer firm, registered investment advisory (RIA) practice, or hybrid firm that offers both commission and fee-based service—and provide them with tools to make that transition.

The Advisor in Transition program enables wirehouse advisers to obtain objective career transition information and key insights into business strategies, according to a press release. Key features of the program include:

• a portal, www.advisorintransition.com, which serves as a resource for wirehouse advisers to prepare for a transition, evaluate their options, and consult directly with industry experts;
• The Business Model Evaluator, an online tool developed in collaboration with Moss Adams LLP, that utilizes a sophisticated algorithm to help advisers determine the affiliation model that best matches their profile and business objectives. It then provides advisers information to help them launch their own introducing firms or identify an existing introducing broker/dealer or RIA affiliated with Pershing LLC or Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, suited to meet their objectives;
• access to industry specialists who are qualified to answer questions on topics related to compliance, financing, making a transition, marketing and establishing a business. Pershing said its ValueAlliance program also offers preferred pricing and access to a wide range of solutions from a network of third-party firms and consultants;
• an interactive financial modeling tool that generates detailed profit and loss and cash flow projections, and incorporates important economic and business factors that need to be considered when making a transition. Criteria range from the type of firm and optimal revenue model desired, to compensation benchmarks for staff, and typical expenditures for technology, operations, compliance and office space;
• self-service tools and practice management support, including detailed guidebooks that walk an adviser through the process of going independent, Webcasts on critical topics relating to these processes, and events designed to help wirehouse advisers navigate the transition process and make the most informed and successful move.

“Our Advisor in Transition program is designed to introduce our broker/dealer customers to wirehouse advisers considering an alternative affiliation and communicate the benefits of these alternative models,’ said Jim Crowley, managing director of the national customers group at Pershing LLC, in the release.

Pershing said Advisor in Transition is a component of its TalentConnect recruitment and retention program, which offers tools, resources, and consulting services to address every phase of an investment professional’s life cycle, from recruitment to succession planning.