Advisor Ileana Platt has left Barclay’s Bank, where she produced more than $2 million in annual revenue, to join RBC Wealth Management.Platt is taking an advisor position in RBC’s Miami office as part of the firm’s International Advisory Group-USA. She has two decades of experience working in the financial services industry, having started at Citicorp in 1994, according to FINRA documents. She also worked at Credit Suisse’s Miami office from 2003 to 2012.

via $2 Million Producer Joins RBC From Barclays | On Wall Street.

As the average age of the adviser force continues to tick up over 50, firms are getting competitive to try and lure advisers on their way out of the industry.Many wirehouses and independent firms are sweetening their buyout deals and making it easier to enter their succession programs. On top of already lofty upfront recruiting deals, more and more top-producing advisers are considering making a transition as part of their retirement plan.

via Selling your book twice over.

Wall Street Bonuses Highest Since 2008Average bonus for securities industry in Big Apple tops $164,500, thanks in part to deferred compensationAverage Wall Street bonus paid to securities industry employees in New York grew 15%.The average bonus paid to securities industry employees in New York City grew 15% to $164,530 in 2013, according to the Office of the New York State Comptroller.Including both cash and deferred compensation, this is the largest average bonus paid out since the 2008 financial crisis and the third-highest on record. The average bonus in ’06 was $191,360; in ’07, it was $177,830.

via Wall Street Bonuses Highest Since 2008.

Wells Fargo sought $76,152 from a former broker, but in the end was ordered to pay the adviser more than 10 times that amountBy Mason BraswellFeb 28, 2014 @ 12:28 pm Updated 2:55 pm ESTPrintE-mailOrder Reprints4Shares Wells Fargo & Co. got more than it bargained for when it went after a former broker for not paying back his upfront bonus.A three-person Finra arbitration panel denied Wells Fargo’s claim for the remaining balance of $76,152 and instead ordered the firm to pay the adviser, Michael Hawkes, $925,000 in compensatory damages and attorneys’ fees.

via Ex-Wells Fargo adviser wins nearly $1 million in promissory note quarrel.

Robertson Stephens Asset Management is a private and independent wealth management RIA, launched in mid-2013. Once one of the most well reputed boutique wealth management firms in the world, sold to Bank of America in 1997, “Robbie Stephens” has been rebuilt by the original management team headed by Joseph Piazza. Piazza’s goal is to recreate the culture of a closely-held boutique serving clients in the $10 million to $100 million range.

via The New, New Independence | Client Relations content from WealthManagement.com.

Forget the gossip by the water cooler. Furtive phone calls are so 2013. From now on, when you’re wondering about another advisor’s recruiting deal, you’ll be able to look it up, courtesy of AdvisorHUB.“We’re bringing access and transparency to the financial advisor recruiting process,” says Andrew Parish, CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based AdvisorHUB. There are two arrows in the AdvisorHub quiver. One is a website, advisorhubinc.com, which is free to the public. For $9.99 a month, financial advisors can see additional material such as an interactive map to view the locations of available positions.

via New App, Site Provide Details on Advisor Recruiting Deals | On Wall Street.

6 Essentials to Pick the Right Buyer for Your Practice

Choosing a buyer for your advisory practice should be a piece of cake. The number of buyers vastly outnumbers that of sellers, so you should simply sell to the highest bidder, right?

In most cases, that would be a costly and irreversible blunder, because much of the value of the deal comes in back-end payments. Thus, advisors need to do the due diligence to be sure that a potential buyer can live up to his or her promises. Once an advisor sells a firm or practice, there are no “do-overs.” You have to get it right the first time, because your retirement nest egg is riding on it.

Selling an independent advisory practices typically includes earn-outs, which are based on back-end performance ranging from 50% to 70% of the total deal or sale’s price. At the wirehouse firms, the entire deal is back-end based. Earn-outs are paid via a mix of cash, equity and interest-bearing notes. Down payments are often 30% to 50% of an agreed upon value.

via 6 Essentials to Pick the Right Buyer for Your Practice.