Exceptional Investment Advisory Professionals
With More Than 40 Years Of Experience
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: If I join Magnus, can I maintain a B/D relationship?
A: Yes! The choice is yours. If your practice is best served by affiliating with a B/D, we will assist you in finding a B/D that specializes in working with independent advisors.
Q: Are costs less for my clients if I become an independent RIA and use Magnus Advisory Group services?
A: Yes. A majority of the time, costs are significantly less! One of the main reasons for the large growth in the number of RIA practices is the significant advantage independent RIAs have in pricing their services.
As an investment advisor (or advisory rep) you are getting paid for giving investment advice, not selling product. This opens up a whole world of low-cost investing often unavailable to broker-dealer reps and their clients. Extremely low cost no-load annuities with no withdrawal charges are an example. Or stock trades as low as $9 and index funds with annual costs less than 10 basis points.
In general, client costs decline markedly when clients work with you as an RIA versus a larger brokerage house. An independent advisor also has the flexibility to determine how much they charge each individual client. If you choose, you can always charge less than the competition. After all, you're making the decisions - not the branch manager or the product folks at the home office.
Many former reps of large financial firms may see their income nearly double, because they no longer share a majority of their revenue with the firm!
Q: I hear registration, on-going compliance and back-office work for my own firm can be expensive and time consuming. Qualified office staff are difficult to find. How do I deal with these issues?
A: That's what makes Magnus such an attractive option. Magnus provides two alternatives for advisors operating an independent financial practice:
First, advisors may join Magnus as an advisory representative. This allows an advisor to begin working immediately with no need for costly and time-consuming registration and little or no staff. We take care of the ongoing compliance and back-office work, including statements, reports, billing, model portfolios (if desired), practice management, and much more. Importantly, the auditors come to the Magnus offices.
Second, an advisor may register his own advisory firm and engage Magnus as a sub-advisor. If you are starting a new RIA, our affiliated firm, Dickinson Regulatory Alliance LLC (DRA), can assist you with registration. Full disclosure: We obviously have a conflict of interest here as DRA is run by Beth Dickinson.
Registration can be a six to eight-week process. As a sub-advisor we provide the same services, including compliance, but you are ultimately responsible for management and compliance requirements. In either scenario, Magnus' experience, knowledge and scale will likely allow you to operate your firm much more efficiently and profitably than otherwise possible.
Q: Will I have any help with transferring my client's holdings from my old firm to a new custodian?
A: Yes! Both Magnus and the custodian are experienced with making a smooth transition, and we’re eager to assist. It's in everyone's best interest to make sure your practice does not skip a beat.
Q. Can we take care of the compliance and back-office ourselves?
A. Yes you can. Our affiliated firm, Dickinson Regulatory Alliance, can even assist you to some degree (please see our disclosures). However, the answer to this question is the same one you would give a client asking if they could manage their own investments. Of course they can - if they are willing to spend the time, energy and resources to become knowledgeable and can remove their emotions from investment decision making. Having some experience with the markets doesn't hurt, either! We all know that 99 percent of the general public would be well served by paying a competent fiduciary to manage their financial situation.
The same is true for financial professionals with compliance and operations. They could do it themselves, but most in the business would agree they'd be crazy to try.
The principals are probably best served spending their time managing the business, meeting with clients, marketing the firm and managing investments. If done well, that's a full day’s work. Seeing the family once in a while is not a bad idea either.
Hire the professionals. You'll be very glad you did - especially when the auditors come knocking!
|
COPYRIGHT MMVIII ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED MagnusAG.NET
|
|
