Fall Brokerage Report reviews the financial advisor channel

The Fall 2007 issue of The Retail Brokerage Report revisits our 2005 
review of the financial advisor channel, expanding it in several 
important aspects. The analysis introduces views on platform 
composition, regional perspective, advisor profile, vertical 
integration and payouts.

The financial advisor channel is large, both in terms of the number 
of advisors and the assets under administration. There are over 
32,000 registered individuals advising on over a quarter of a 
trillion dollars in assets! However, in the past two years the growth 
has lagged that of other advice conduits, highlighting the 
intensifying take-away game among all advice channels for both client 
assets and advisors. Meanwhile, the experience of individual firms in 
the financial advisor channel has varied widely, with the fastest-
growing firms expanding assets at a compound average annual growth 
rate of 25% over the past two years. The competitive landscape now 
includes firms running the MFDA, IDA and ICPM (investment counsel and 
portfolio manager) platforms, or a combination thereof.

A broadening of the regulatory qualifications of the expansive 
financial advisor population is likely limited as much by the demand 
characteristics of their client base as by their training, roots, 
business culture and structure. However, the evolving needs and 
requirements at the high end of the channel will continue to present
opportunities. Success will likely follow those who seize the 
opportunity to distinguish themselves and their practice. The growing 
wealth of clients currently serviced within this channel will 
increasingly command the attention of competitors from across the 
advice continuum.

The Fall 2007 issue of The Retail Brokerage Report is now available 
for subscriber download.