Transitioning
"Any transition is ugly," says New Century Bank's Pershan. Firms receiving transfer requests hold back securities and create other 'bumps in the road'; clients call, saying they're stilling getting statements with $33.46 on them. But USF gives us clear instructions-they didn't just hand us the paperwork and expect us to know what to do with it. So things like that get taken care of."
Lambert's practice involved a lot of third-party money managers. "We had some of the managers she was using already and we will continue to add managers to accommodate advisors who come from major wirehouses. There were four or five managers that she used who weren't on our platform, and we negotiated transactions with each of them so we could bring those assets across," says MacKillop.
USF is cognizant of the slippery slope of transitioning. "We're very respectful of the privacy act as we talk to prospective brokers and advisors who want to leave," says Graubart. "We don't want any information that is proprietary to the firm."
MacKillop agrees, and adds that USF wants to play by the rules all the way. "There are many wirehouse brokers who are eager to leave, and we don't need to step over the line and become overly aggressive about moving the process forward."
Veteran financial writer and former wealth manager Lisa Gray assisted with the research for this article.