To the Next Level

"I was one of those goofy kids who wore a suit to school. I started on the insurance side of the business, but I always wanted to be a stockbroker — that was the goal," says Romine, who eventually became a broker with Dean Witter. "I just loved the market. I always wanted to be part of it."

Over the last 10 years, Romine has worked in various leadership capacities for Jackson National Life. Most recently, he served as senior vice president for Jackson National Life Distributors, where he was responsible for leading the external sales force and building relationships in Jackson's regional and wirehouse broker-dealer distribution channel. He launched the channel in 2002. Before that, he was focused on the independent broker-dealer side.

It's exposure that he says has helped prepare him for his new role.

"I've worked directly with reps in every position I've had in the industry. I've always enjoyed the interaction and certainly that's one of the most important parts of my job now," says Romine, who also oversees a home office staff of 147 people at the firm's headquarters in Santa Monica.

"My guiding influence is: How can I make a difference for these reps? My job as we move forward is to make sure our reps have the products and services and the support all in place to meet the needs [of investors.] The financial landscape has gotten very complex. There's a huge need for retirement planning, retirement income planning, estate planning. Our job is to reach out to the reps in the field and ask them what they need and want — then deliver it."

In addition to his CEO duties, Romine will also lead the firm's recruiting effort. The target: an advisor with at least five years in the business and gross dealer concession of $250,000. Currently, the average GDC of a National Planning Corp. rep is $156,494, with the top 20 percent averaging $431,770.

It was Clifford Jack, a Jackson National executive, who first approached Romine about taking on the CEO's role.

"He understands each aspect of the broker-dealer business and recognizes that NPC's rep-centric culture has been a key element to the firm's success," according to Jack. "He's completely engaged in the business and consistently supplies his management team with the confidence and tools required to run the firm on a day-to-day basis. His industry experience enables him to understand what reps are looking for to grow their practices, to talk their language and to deliver the solutions that matter most to not only reps, but the investing public as well."

Romine, meanwhile, is hunkering down and meeting new challenges.

"I love being back on the retail side with exposure to the entire business — not just the distribution world I was in," he says. "In a variety of roles over the last 10 years, sometimes I've been asked to fix things, sometimes I've been asked to grow things. I'm so excited in this position because the infrastructure is here. I've been asked to continue to grow it."—

Freelance writer Ellen Uzelac is based in Chestertown, Md., and is a contributing editor of Research.