Lisa Shidler

The culture of innovation in Corporate Finance and the old Alex Brown partnership business model gave Alex Brown a high level of personal pride in serving their clients. This is difficult to replicate in todays insular publically held business format. Alex Brown was very close personally to its clients which formulated what would be today a unique ethical and personal identity. Firms were then concerned about trust, civic responsibility and the well being of their clients, it was a gentleman’s business, unlike today. It would be nice if Alex Brown would reemerge around the once pervasive values that embodied the best interest of the investing public. But those days of exercising personal principle are long over as expressed by the industry’s push back over fiduciary duty and acting in the best interest of the investing public.

SCW Stephen Winks.

What to make of Raymond James putting 'Alex. Brown' back into business and what to make of the $420 million it's spending to make it happen

Paul Reilly: Deutsche Bank is to continue providing the Alex. Brown advisors continued access to syndicates from Deutsche Bank's equity research and a high array of high-net-worth services for many years.

Raymond James

Sanctuary Wealth Services

Gerri Leder

Jeff Spears

Alex. Brown

Robertson Stephens

Joe Piazza

Paul Reilly

Haig Ariyan

Adherents of the hybrid RIA model seem to understand the world in the same terms as Puritan dissenters, now known as Baptists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Unitarians and Congregationalists. The members of those offshoots avoided the fate of the Puritans who believed a little too ardently that grace could not be earned, only bestowed by God. The Puritans are now extinct. More inclusive splinter sects that accommodate striving sinners, on the other hand, have gone on to survive and prosper. Hybrid RIAs espouse a new world order of accountable advice that errs on the side of inclusion of brokers despite their propensity for sin inherent in their inevitable conflicts of interest. RIA purists see this more-the-merrier mindset as too much fiduciary disharmony to throw at clients and an unsettling bifurcation when building a successful, long-haul business. RIA hybrid enthusiasts say the success of this model – and it is the fastest growing in the advisory world -- speaks for itself and that such firms house the best of the transactional brokerage business and the fee business under one roof. Moreover, these evangelists see the hybrid model as a means of bridging the gap between a whole generation financial advisors by leading captive wirehouse brokers to a model that offers more objective, open- architecture advice. Whatever side a reader falls on this dynamic topic certainly deserves a reader section for itself and we are proud to present it.

Hybrid RIA

Raymond James could get the hallowed brand and 200 advisors with $50 billion in advised assets for a nominal price but it'll also be pumping Deutsche products through the AB unit

What to make of Raymond James putting 'Alex. Brown' back into business and what to make of the $420 million it's spending to make it happen

Related Moves

August 24, 2019 at 4:25 AM

August 15, 2019 at 7:58 PM

June 6, 2019 at 2:16 AM

March 4, 2019 at 11:54 PM

Stephen Winks

RIABiz Directory

White Paper Postings

Special Sections

Common Tags

Recent Articles

Popular Writers

RIABiz

Directory

Archives

Connect