Securities America said early Tuesday that an advisor team led by Wayne Maier has returned to the broker-dealer, after spending the past six years with National Planning Corp.
Maier says that he and the five other reps on his team do more than $3.2 million in yearly fees and commission. They manage about $250 million in client assets and work on $200 million of retirement plan assets, as well, from their Bay City, Mich., office.
"We left because we thought we had unique opportunities at National Planning Corp.," said Maier in an interview with ThinkAdvisor. "The cultural differences between a Midwest broker-dealer and a California company were something we were not prepared for."
Maier adds that NPC is "phenomenal" to work with and "did nothing wrong." His team "was just not used to the fast-paced culture, so things didn't mesh well."
About a year ago, he reached out to Securities America, which was acquired by Ladenburg Thalmann (LTS) in 2011 from Ameriprise (AMP) and has about 1,750 advisors. Maier also discussed his situation and desire to move with several other broker-dealers "to see what was going on in the marketplace."
Maier also stayed in touch with several executives at Securities America and discussed his plans to make a move with clients.
"We are pleased to have Wayne back, he is a great advisor who takes care of his clients, and he and his staff are consummate professionals," said Gregg Johnson, senior vice president of branch office development and acquisitions for Securities America, in an interview.
"We think this sends a signal to those reps that have left for various reasons in past … of the value in what we are doing and improvements we continue t to make," Johnson said. "It's a strong signal to existing advisors, as well."
(In June, advisors Shannon Case and Mark Slattery, who had left to affiliate with SII Investments from 2006-2013, came back to Securitiies America.)
Securities America recruited advisors with about $35 million in trailing-12-month fees and commissions last year. This included 320 advisors and staff, helping make 2012 the firm's fourth best in its past 29 years of recruiting, he says.
