Top 10 Firms?
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B24 said it best…for the most part, as far as the client’s are concerned, the firm is only as good as their individual Advisor! The only relevant ranking should be the best to work for, since that tells you which firms make it easier for the Advisor’s to do their jobs. I’m happy where I am at but have noplace else to compare it to.
[quote=iceco1d]
I don’t think your question can be answered as stated. It might be best to list the firms that are “worth a look” in each channel.
Wirehouse / Traditional Employee on the Investment Side
-ML
-MSSB
-UBS
-WFA
-EDJ
Insurance
-NYL
-Mass Mut
-NW Mut
-Guardian
Indy B/D
-LPL
-Raymond James
-Commonwealth
-Cambridge
RIA Custodians
-Fidelity
-Schwab
-TA Ameritrade
-Trade PMR
-Scottrade
-Pershing
Hope that helps. Sorry to reword your question, but it’s hard to compare firms in different channels. [/quote]
This should help. Thank You.
I don’t suggest any ranking… Just like i don’t suggest looking at top funds of 2008… Rankings are for media and idiot investors…
[quote=chief123]I don’t suggest any ranking… Just like i don’t suggest looking at top funds of 2008… Rankings are for media and idiot investors…
[/quote]
I know this is totally off topic, but your new tagline is hilarious Ron.
Even if you did answer it, how would you? Top 10 firms in terms of WHAT? Assets? FA's? Offices? Reputation? Profitability? How good they are to work for? Client satisfaction? And who's to say a $25mm client that is real satisfied at Merrill would be "more" satisfied at Jones, because after all, Jones is the "leader in client satisfaction". It's all relative. How many $25mm clients are there at Jones? A few hundred - maybe? How many are at Merrill? A few thousand?.....More? What if your focus is insurance? Would Wachovia be the right fit? Wouldn't NWM be a better fit? What if you just wanted to do discretionary trading? What if you just wanted to do financial planning? What if you just wanted to focus on $50mm clients and up? What if your focus is employee benefits and small business retirement plans? That's where "surveys" and rankings are sort of stupid. You can't really compare different firms, since each client's experience will be different. I have clients with $1mm+ that love me, and clients with $25K that could probably take me or leave me. I also have clients with 50K that think I walk on water, and HATED being at Merrill, because they got no service. It's all relative. And personally, I think most of it comes down to their personal relationship with their advisors, consistency of service and consistency of management (why do you think WF/WS will not get ranked as high as AGE used to?). That is one of the reasons Jones scores well - our firm hasn't changed much in the eyes of the client for years.Might be helpful to the guy who asked for the rankings though.
EF Hutton
Dean Witter Reynolds
Salomon Brothers
AG Edwards
Wachovia
Kidder Peabody
Paine Webber
Merrill Lynch
Stanford
Madoff? - Do they count?
[quote=Moraen] [quote=Ron 14] [quote=chief123]I don’t suggest any ranking… Just like i don’t suggest looking at top funds of 2008… Rankings are for media and idiot investors…[/quote]
[/quote]
I know this is totally off topic, but your new tagline is hilarious Ron.[/quote] Thank you sir, lol
[quote=Ron 14][quote=Moraen] [quote=Ron 14] [quote=chief123]I don’t suggest any ranking… Just like i don’t suggest looking at top funds of 2008… Rankings are for media and idiot investors…[/quote]
[/quote]
I know this is totally off topic, but your new tagline is hilarious Ron.[/quote] Thank you sir, lol [/quote] Sometimes you really have to pay attention to the nuance on some of these threads. That tagline is one of the funniest things I've read all week.
Lehman Brothers Bear StearnsEF Hutton
Dean Witter Reynolds
Salomon Brothers
AG Edwards
Wachovia
Kidder Peabody
Paine Webber
Merrill Lynch
Stanford
Madoff? - Do they count?
B24, Did you get those $1 million accounts doorknocking? Just curious. If so, that’s pretty incredible.
I have two $1mm+ accounts off doorknocks. One took very little time, the other took almost 3 years. And by that time, they guy barely remembered how we met (I actually doorknocked and called his wife a few times, then she finally just gave me his work #). The first was not a super-wealthy guy. Just saved a lot in his 401K (and his co. stock did remarkable the past 20 years). The second guy has more bucks. Another 450K in his current 401K, some options, a pension, and a few houses.
Very few of my other big accounts came off doorknocks. The big accounts (not necessarily $1mm+) came from all different ways - referrals from clients and CPA's, one was a walkin (my ONLY walk-in client ever! - I am off the beaten-path), a few from seminars, a few from mailings, a few from networking, a few developed from Goodknight accounts. Damn, now that I think about, it really runs that gammut.