The Enduring Advisory Firm. Mark C. Tibergien

Mark Tibergien

      The Enduring Advisory Firm

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THE ENDURING ADVISORY FIRMHow to Serve Your Clients More Effectively and Operate More EfficientlyMark TibergienKim Dellarocca

      Cover image: Business graph © MF3d/iStockphoto; Wall Street Sign © kevinjeon00/iStockphoto

      Cover design: Wiley

      Copyright © 2017 by Mark Tibergien and Kim Dellarocca. All rights reserved.

      Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

      Published simultaneously in Canada.

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      ISBN 978-1-119-10876-4 (Hardcover)

      ISBN 978-1-119-10881-8 (ePDF)

      ISBN 978-1-119-10879-5 (ePub)

To Arlene Tibergien, Mark's wife, companion, and rock forover 35 yearsTo Nico Dellarocca, the best thing that has ever happened tohis mother, Kim

      Acknowledgments

      We consider ourselves fortunate to have found work that is fulfilling and challenging. Through our combined 60-plus-year journey we have learned a lot about the kinds of investments firms need to drive success. Above all we have learned that the most important investment one can make is in others. We have learned that the quality of our relationships is the biggest driver of our happiness and success. We have learned to slow down, to be present, to think win-win, and to do our best to build others up. We have learned that sharing our talents and wisdom matters, often most to those individuals whom we may never meet. We have learned to let go and laugh more. We have learned that friendship promotes the happiness of all.

      We are grateful to include here a small list of those friends who have lent their wisdom and inspiration to the book, provided coaching and opportunities along our path, and been the people we most enjoy simply sharing a laugh over a bottle of wine. They are:

      The members of the Pershing Executive Committee, especially Lisa Dolly, Jim Crowley, and Caroline O'Connell.

      The members of the Pershing Advisor Solutions Executive Committee, in particular Karen Novak, Gabe Garcia, Ben Harrison, and Evan LaHuta, and the incredible team of professionals who make this company a great place to pursue our career objectives.

      Our clients and friends, Gerry Tamburro, Jim Pratt-Heaney, Andy Reder, Ross Levin, and the Pershing Advisor Council, for opening their businesses to us to study and for sharing their experiences.

      The provocative thinkers who inspire us: John Hagel, Cam Marston, and Philip Palaveev.

      Our families, friends, teams, and colleagues who supported us in achieving this as well as so many other important goals.

      John Wiley & Sons and our editor, Christina Verigan, for their help, focus, and flexibility.

      We would also like to thank each other. We have had an enduring friendship for many years, and our efforts to put this book together did not compromise our relationship as some had predicted – rather they made it stronger.

      Mark Tibergien and Kim Dellarocca

      Preface

      Financial services firms have long operated independently. The 1980s ushered in two variations on existing business models that accelerated the growth of the entrepreneurial mindset in which practitioners became owner/operators instead of working as employees of another firm: Registered Investment Advisors (RIA) and Independent Contractor Broker/Dealer (IBD) reps.

      Now we are seeing a couple of new dynamics: first, the transformation from practice to business; second, the emergence of multi-owner/multi-employee advisory firms. In this light, the notion of independence becomes a bit murkier because there are more mouths to feed, more constituencies to please, and more competition for strategic direction from multiple points of view. While ownership may be independent, the notion of making decisions without the influence of others is less true.

      That said, RIAs are the purest form of independence in that they are free of broker/dealer oversight and overrides on their compensation, whereas the IBD model is subject to supervision by the broker/dealers with whom they affiliate and they must share an override on their revenue production with the broker/dealers. There is also a difference in approach to business as recognized by their different regulatory structures, i.e., the SEC vs. FINRA: the RIA model is composed of professional buyers whereas the IBD model is composed mostly of professional sellers, meaning that in the former, they get paid directly by the clients and act as fiduciaries or client advocates on all accounts; whereas broker/dealer reps get paid on a grid for the products they sell and for the most part operate under a suitability standard, though a recent ruling by the Department of Labor will change that condition for retirement accounts.

      There has been some morphing of these identities in the past decade, however, as many IBD reps have either formed their own RIAs or became Investment Advisor Representatives (IAR) of their broker/dealer’s corporate RIA. (Those who are registered