The Financial Services Institute (FSI) said it ended 2007 with more than 12,600 active financial advisor members, a 141% increase over 2006. FSI, an industry group representing independent broker-dealers and independent financial advisors, added 7,892 new financial advisor members and renewed 4,628 memberships for an 88.5% renewal rate.
"This is an important milestone in our brief four-year history, adding grassroots muscle that will accelerate our influence in achieving our advocacy objectives," said Dale E. Brown, FSI's president and CEO. Some of the group's priority issues include preserving 12b-1 fees, clarifying the application of privacy rules to independent advisory businesses, and fighting efforts to impose services taxes on its members.
Atlanta-based FSI has 114 broker-dealer members. Founded in January 2004, its mission includes lobbying federal and state regulators and elected officials on advisory-related issues.