"We were rumored to be on the block in 2008 and [we were] publicly on the block for most of 2009," says Harrison, whose firm has 1,000 financial professionals nationwide. "When our ownership changed, we looked at that as a new beginning. The real win in 2010 is that we held our own with regard to retention. In other words, we're not losing advisors."
Harrison says the company for two years has been recruiting more than it's been losing, and it's boosting its recruiting staff for more "feet on the street." The company plans to launch a full-scale marketing and direct mail campaign going into 2011, Harrison says.
One firm that continues to be dedicated to slow, steady growth is Commonwealth Financial Network in Waltham, Mass., and San Diego. Andrew Daniels, the managing principal of field development at the company, says the firm only wants to add advisors "where we fit them and they fit us."
"Every other B-D has a strong, proactive approach," he says, "and we remain predominantly reactive. I have five recruiters who are salaried, whereas at most B-Ds, the recruiters are compensated based on the percentage of production they recruit."
Daniels says the firm wants to attract people with a wealth management approach regardless of where or how they work now. The company has no set target for the number of advisors or gross dealer concession to recruit annually.
"Every B-D has to have table stakes of solid technology, a fair payout, and diverse and open product offering," says Daniels. "We have all that, and we wrap it with a service model that is as much about Commonwealth as a community as it is about being in business. I refer to it as an 'intangible Commonwealth.'"
Scott Carlson, a senior vice president of sales and distribution at Woodbury Financial Services Inc. in Woodbury, Minn. (a subsidiary of The Hartford Financial Services Group), says his firm has held its own during the bear market, and is on pace to record $237 million in gross revenue for 2010-up from $223.2 million in 2009.
"Our reps are well-diversified between investment sales, fee-based planning and life insurance sales," says Carlson. "We're looking for experienced producers from all environments and business models, including wirehouses and other broker-dealers."
The firm's payout is 90%, according to Financial Advisor's 2010 annual B-D ranking. Among the benefits Woodbury Financial offers are a deferred commission plan and company-funded deferred compensation.
Genworth Financial Investment Services in Schaumburg, Ill., hit the ground running at the beginning of the year and maintains it has already matched its 2009 recruiting target with room to spare, says Michael Abramowicz, a vice president of advisor recruiting.
Genworth Financial occupies a special niche within the B-D space. Most of its professionals specialize in tax and accounting disciplines and have added wealth management services to enhance their practices.