The Ten to Watch in 2015

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Erinn Ford

Age: 44
Position: President, Cetera Advisors
Location: Seattle; Denver
Education: B.A., University of Washington; Series 7, 24, 65, 63

In early 2012, independent broker/dealer Pacific West Securities was hit with a $2.1 million arbitration award over sales of tenant-in-common (TIC) real estate investments—a situation where more than one entity owns a piece of property. The firm, already struggling with thinning profits, decided it was time to close its doors and move its reps (240 at the time) to Cetera Advisors. Erinn Ford, then Pacific West’s chief operating officer and head of marketing, handled the situation gracefully, by all accounts.

“She was very objective in the strengths as well as the weaknesses of their old broker/dealer, Pacific West, in what struggles they had with the excessive amount of TIC business they were doing toward the late 2000s, and why they ultimately sold,” says Jonathan Henschen, an industry recruiter. “You talk to some of the bigger broker/dealers, and you just never get that.”

Ford was recently named president of Cetera Advisors. Earlier this year, the entire Cetera network was purchased by RCS Capital Corp., run by Nicholas Schorsch, one of REP.’s Ten to Watch for 2014.

Justin Wisz

Age: 29
Position: Co-founder, CEO of Vestorly
Location: New York
Education: B.A., Hampden-Sydney College

Marketing is one activity advisors fret about but few do well, if at all. The same goes for social media.

Vestorly, a New York City-based startup co-founded by Wisz, may finally help them put some teeth into their efforts.

Advisors use the Vestorly platform to curate and share online articles, galleries or videos with their clients and prospects, either across social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, or in newsletters, websites and emails. They can track who views what, and who shares the content across their own social networks with contacts intrigued enough to enter an email address to view it. That in turn generates a new lead for the advisor—a prospect already in the sharer’s personal network. “Everything they are doing is what people are already used to doing online, which is content discovery,” says Wisz.

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