Whoa… the package of info I got from harbor today, makes then sound real deceptive.



So they charge you $1100/month all inclusive except for ticket charges. Then they add on 10 other charges that I have found… what’s the point… why not just say $2000/month+ ticket charges…



They have charge 50bps on fee accounts through RJ.

120bps on accounts through their 3rd party managers

And talk about screwing someone their ticket charges are insane(For example $6.00 charge + 10% commission on all outside mutual fund business)

$15/month for email…



Can someone explain why I would pay a flat rate and still get nickeled and dimed…

I don’t mean to sound overly critical here, but RJ is a joke.  A lot of people are flocking there b/c there name is on freaking baseball stadium and people feel like that is a warm and fuzzy place to go if you are coming out of a wirehouse right now.  Let’s be real, RJ & LPL are the wirehouses of the Indy world.  There are plenty of smaller BD’s out there with platforms that are more than suitable to run your business and you won’t get nickeled and dimed to death like you will at RJ or LPL.  I can’t speak as well about LPL, but my firm was with RJ for 20 years before we started our own BD in 2005.  Compliance is a nightmare at RJ especially when it comes to annuity business.  They don’t let you sell L share annuities.  They haircut product … ie skim 1% off the top of annuity commissions and up to 30 bps on the 1% trail (so you net .70).  Their ticket charges and program fees for fee based accounts are significantly higher.  They pocket the 12b-1 fees in fee-based account instead of giving them to the FA or rebating back to the client.  Another thing you need to realize about RJ is that they are self insured.  There is no E&O policy.  So, if sh*t hits the fan, like maybe for Auction Rates since that’s still an issue for them, they choose whether they will come out of pocket and pay.  You know who else was self insured … Stanford.  Oops, sorry about that.  Just my 2 cents.

Looking for a B/D that Harbor was suppose to be. $1100/month plus tickets. with no haircuts on anything. with access to fee platform that has unlimited trading(or allows a certain amount of trades/month). Am I asking for too much?

So Harbor would have no problem with me putting all my assets with TD(lady on the phone said the program has only been up and running since feb of this year)?

IF and this is a big IF …



You are interested in the Raymond James platform, you might want to consider Cantella & Co - they’ll clear through RJ. They offer a straight 90% payout, plus $150 a month. Naturally, if your business reaches a certain point Harbor Financial makes the better deal.

Harbor looks like they are trying to attract the guy who wants to do all fee but not have to deal with starting an RIA(especially with that TD ameritrade platform)

[quote=mrclutch] I don’t mean to sound overly critical here, but RJ is a joke. A lot of people are flocking there b/c there name is on freaking baseball stadium and people feel like that is a warm and fuzzy place to go if you are coming out of a wirehouse right now. Let’s be real, RJ & LPL are the wirehouses of the Indy world. There are plenty of smaller BD’s out there with platforms that are more than suitable to run your business and you won’t get nickeled and dimed to death like you will at RJ or LPL. I can’t speak as well about LPL, but my firm was with RJ for 20 years before we started our own BD in 2005. Compliance is a nightmare at RJ especially when it comes to annuity business. They don’t let you sell L share annuities. They haircut product … ie skim 1% off the top of annuity commissions and up to 30 bps on the 1% trail (so you net .70). Their ticket charges and program fees for fee based accounts are significantly higher. They pocket the 12b-1 fees in fee-based account instead of giving them to the FA or rebating back to the client. Another thing you need to realize about RJ is that they are self insured. There is no E&O policy. So, if sh*t hits the fan, like maybe for Auction Rates since that’s still an issue for them, they choose whether they will come out of pocket and pay. You know who else was self insured … Stanford. Oops, sorry about that. Just my 2 cents.

[/quote]

MrClutch,



RJ a joke? Really… I can’t speak to how things were five years ago but I can speak to how they are now. 12b-1 fees are rebated back to the client in fee based accounts in non fee based they are credited to the FA. Our annuity plat form puts me at a competitive advantage. RJ limits comp on VAs to 5%. The carriers cut there expenses to the client. For example, Lincoln and Pru contracts are about 25 bps to 35 bps cheaper in expenses than the same titled product at UBS or LPL. So yeah I get paid less but the clients expenses are much less. There is an E&O policy. I get a copy of it every year. It is not billed as a separate line item but is bundled in with the $250 a month affiliation fee. To compare RJ to Stanford is nuts. RJ is self clearing so I feel like I am not getting nickeled and dimed to death. The staff in St. Pete to FAs in the field is very high. The service level is great compared to wirehouse levels.

It’s $6.00 for mutual fund trails

[quote=chief123] Whoa… the package of info I got from harbor today, makes then sound real deceptive.



So they charge you $1100/month all inclusive except for ticket charges. Then they add on 10 other charges that I have found… what’s the point… why not just say $2000/month+ ticket charges…



They have charge 50bps on fee accounts through RJ.

120bps on accounts through their 3rd party managers

And talk about screwing someone their ticket charges are insane(For example $6.00 charge + 10% commission on all outside mutual fund business)

$15/month for email…



Can someone explain why I would pay a flat rate and still get nickeled and dimed…





[/quote]



Was on a webex yesterday and saw the whole platform. Very impressive. Seems to makes sense as long as you are doing $70K + each year.

That’s what it looked like on the sheet they sent me. Also direct business is $6.OO/trade plus 10% of commission or sales credit with $27.00 max.

http://www.raymondjames.com/advisorchoice/rjfsicd/pdf/payout_comp.pdf



this has some details

Now that I have been at Harbor for about 2 1/2 months I can answer some of these quesions about fees.  I can tell you I do not feel nickled and dimed.  Harbor is a good outfit.