"VFK, you may in fact be right.  However, I would expect the 800 lb gorilla to have the most arbitrations.  Additionally, their business model calls for them to use some very sophisticated strategies as well.  As you should know, the more complex the strategy, the more likely there will be some misunderstandings"-Starka

Starka,

The majority of those were brought on by Mr. & Mrs. Jones.  Nothing complex about bad investments and unsuitable recommendations.  But you are right we are all one complaint away.  If you have been in the business long enough, you are bound to get one.  I do recall a broker who lost almost all $2,500,000 of a client's money trading stocks on margin.  Did the firm call him a crook, a rogue broker, or a thief...... uh-uh....they called him a President's Council member.  Make's you wonder.

When I was a teenager, I had the privelege of playing golf occasionally with a gifted and compassionate judge.  (It’s no coincidence that he was later appointed to the US Appellate Circuit.)  We’d talk about a lot of things during the day, and he apparently had a good time when I’d try to pick his brain about the law.  Once I asked him how, during the trial, he could bang the gavel and make more or less instant decisions that would affect the outcome of the trial.  In short, how did he know when someone was lying.  I’ve always remembered his answer:  “Follow the money, and you’ll know what happened.”

All the Major Firms are pretty much the same.... its the individual advisors who drive the business.  I don't sell the firm.... I sell My Team.

I think selling the firm can hurt you in the long run.  If your firm is in the news every other day and doing stupid things then the clients are mad at the firm and leave.

You can get great services & products anywhere if you are an objective advisor.  Sell yourself and do what's right for the client, and you will always have a book of business.

[quote=youcanhatemenow]

oops....I almost forgot....

   Another $25 million in fines for its alleged participation as a financier in the Sumitomo Corp. trading scandal + $80 Million on 2 Enron Transactions + $200 million toward the global settlement and the funds will go toward a fund to benefit customers of the firms.  That's a lot of Brooks Brother suits that got sent to the regulators.

My hands are tired from typing, I'd add more, but carpeltunnel is kicking in. 

[/quote]

Are you too tired to detail the fines of EJ and their "conflict free" Amway method of selling mutual funds? 

I think the point that a lot of people miss is that there is going to be a rogue FA anywhere. 

Do you realistically think that at Jones there aren't a handful of brokers that are churning assets to bring home more money so that mama can buy more shoes.  Or at Merrill, do you not think there is another broker that is selling a VA to an 80 year old with health problems? 

The bottom line is what Starka said about the 800lb gorrilla.  Someone once told me that SSB (one of my clients) should be ashamed for the $200M fine they got hit with last year and the $75M fine Jones received was nothing big compared to that.  Bottom line - Citigroup sneezes away $200M and hardly knows it, same with Merrill.  Jones gets hit with $75M and it's proportionally a much bigger deal. 

Now that RJFS has taken the big slap from the regulators, does this mean that indies clearing through b/d like RJFS are going to face the same sort of attention or was this in another RJFS channel and means nothing to the indies?

I just can't imagine that in this strong regulatory climate idies won't some day get equal attention.

It’s the banks that need looked at.

When I was a teenager, I had the privelege of playing golf occasionally with a gifted and compassionate judge.  (It's no coincidence that he was later appointed to the US Appellate Circuit.)  We'd talk about a lot of things during the day, and he apparently had a good time when I'd try to pick his brain about the law.  Once I asked him how, during the trial, he could bang the gavel and make more or less instant decisions that would affect the outcome of the trial.  In short, how did he know when someone was lying.  I've always remembered his answer:  "Follow the money, and you'll know what happened."

Damn Starka, I hate to admit it, you are much wiser than I'd ever imagined.  I must pay to you the ultimate compliment for someone in this business....your clients are lucky to have you as their advisor.  I appreciated the story.

Starka: Are you sure that quote (“Follow the money”) was from da judge or from deep throat?

From the judge.  Why?

When I was younger, I asked my parents if there was really a tooth fairy.  They said sweatly,“Little Frumhere, you want truth, you can’t handle the truth.”–>now I come to find out that someone used there line in a move.  

I guess they were right, no matter what Jack Nicholson said.