"I could never get all of these services-the marketing pieces, compliance, technology and operations, let alone the consulting and this office space, for what I pay (about 20%)," Airey says. "I can't be an expert in everything. Just the thought that I don't have to do all these things myself is important to me."
In fact, Spire may have built a better broker-dealer, albeit one that welcomes investment advisors. Paul Murphy, the firm's national director of sales, says the response from advisors and brokers has been fairly overwhelming in his first six months on the job. The firm expects to recruit between 15 and 25 consultants in 2008.

"We're in negotiations with one advisor who wants to grow his business through acquisition," Murphy says. "He has a specific investment model he's created, but not the expertise to analyze acquisitions. That's where we'll come in. We're in discussions with him about growing his aggregate practice under the Spire umbrella. He believes our infrastructure will be conducive to his strategy."

Elsewhere, he says, a "million-dollar team of brokers are interested in us because they have both advisory and stock and bond business. Individual stock and bond trades aren't being encouraged by wirehouses right now. But we can accommodate both kinds of business." At the same time, this team of possible recruits wants to implement a succession strategy, which they believe Spire can help them maximize.

"We really are about the 30-somethings buying the business from the 50-somethings," says Blisk, who offers a stock option and company ownership plan as part of Spire's benefit package. That helps with recruiting and helps get advisors through the initial pain of transitioning to a new firm. It also gets employees and advisors to take ownership of the firm and its success-a buy-in he says is critical to the firm's success. "And unlike firms like Smith Barney where the stock price is under water, our stock options float with our valuation," Blisk says.

Currently, while the firm is attractive to former wirehouse brokers, a third of Spire's advisors come from independent settings and a third from insurers and regional broker-dealers. "We're not looking to be the biggest guy on the block, but rather the highest quality RIA-BD firm," Blisk adds. "We don't want tons and tons of reps. We want the mid- to higher-level person who wants to grow, has a more demanding clientele and more complex product needs."

Whether it's gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico or the best long-term care insurance policy, "as long as we can audit the deals, we'll let advisors do them," Blisk says. "We have an investment management committee, and we meet regularly on what our folks are doing and what they want to do, but we don't dictate a master parental relationship here. We allow the advisors to be truly independent in their choices."

Sue McKeown, the firm's vice president of operations and compliance, says Spire prides itself on "fast turnaround and a group effort" when it comes to due diligence. While the 12 advisor groups around the country take advantage of Spire's infrastructure, back-office support and-when needed-brokerage services, they can choose to brand themselves however they like, and can expect professional-level help when doing so.

The firm employs a marketing graphics designer to create advisors' Web sites, brochures and marketing literature, as well as a copy editor to write all the content. "Each of the advisors can have a private label Web site, but many like the Spire name," says Phillip Fournier, a senior vice president at the firm who works with new teams coming in to ensure they have the office space and infrastructure they need to get up to speed quickly.

Fournier helped author a Spire transitions workbook and oversees the firm's 30-day jump-start program for incoming advisors to make sure that they don't get lost trying to figure out the systems, products and services. "I've noticed that it can take advisors about six months to get back on the horse when they bring their business here, so we do everything we can to shorten that time before they can get out there and start working with clients and growing their assets. We try to craft 30-second commercials for them, identify their niches, make sure their investment strategy is sound and give their practice a checkup," Fournier says.

To aid growth, the firm has made massive technology investments, creating Web-based systems and virtual and paperless office capacity that allow advisors to get their phone calls, programs, documents and data from any location. "We had one consultant who worked from a family member's office in the Bahamas every month and a half or so, and no one knew when he wasn't in the office," Fournier says.
The real goals? Efficiency, productivity and a cultural fit for advisors seeking greater ease of doing business. "We want to help advisors grow and be happy. Our goal is to take 20% to 30% of their junk time and help them put it to use someplace else. That allows them and us to continue to exceed 25% growth each year," Fournier says.