www.nextfinancial.com

I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned before in any of these threads. You won't believe what these people are missing. Six straight years as Investment Advisor magazine's "Broker/Dealer of the Year" award. Great things are happening under the radar and it amazes me.

Good luck.

[quote=Northfield]

Quick profile: Midwest, wirehouse guy, 10 years

in, $600k, fee based with a large component of rep-discretionary run

portfolio business. Thinking a move straight to RIA might be too drastic

(and more start up costs involved).

[/quote]



You might try thinking again.



The RIA concept might be your best option. If you value your

discretionary mangement ability, think about being able to handle

multiple accounts/trades at one time. Most independent BD’s don’t have

that capability.



Think about the time you would save NOT having to enter individual

orders. The ability to execute on asset allocation strategies, rather than

concentrating on the mechanics of executing your investment allocation

decisions creates a huge advantage for the RIA advisor.



Startup costs aren’t incredibly different than those of other independent

firms. You’ll be doing yourself a huge disservice by not following through

with RIA due dilligence.



C

Absolutely. If my practice was a bit larger then I would definitely pursue the RIA option exclusively. I would define myself as more of a "money manager" than a "wealth manager." 

But at $600k , I feel I should also pursue independent b/d options as well. But I don't want to take a step backward, so I would want a platform that supports discretionary management and has block trading capabilities.