Are Embattled Markets Impacting FA Recruiting?

Plus: 2022 Becoming Banner Year for M&A, Hidden Costs of Back-Office Automation Implementation and More

To My Fellow WSR Community Members:

This is the time of year when management teams across the country decide whether to move forward with back and middle-office initiatives.

And with the markets facing severe volatility and significant economic uncertainty in the air, it’s not uncommon to temporarily shelve such initiatives, especially when it comes to technology enhancements, such as back-office automation.

So the thinking goes, the upside of continuing with such initiatives can always be harvested whenever the projects are revisited and eventually brought to completion…and there isn’t much downside to skipping a beat when there appear to be other, more pressing opportunities.

But is this in fact correct?  Or are there hidden costs to temporary pauses with back office automation projects?

This Week’s Issue

With these questions in mind, here’s what we have for you in this week’s issue:

• Is the current downturn an opportunity in disguise? In our Upmarket section,Tim Boostrom, Head of Business Development at Stifel Independent Advisors, counsels advisors considering a transition during market instability to think rationally and not succumb to destructive fear, and updates us on the current trend of in-branch recruiting.

• In the Digital Domain section, Sindhu Joseph, Founder and CEO of CogniCor, explains the causes of back-office automation delays, the damage postponing automation can cause to an advisory firm and steps to avoid delays and get back on track if approval and adoption setbacks have caught your firm unaware.

• M&A activity for 2022 is shaping up to break records, according to ECHELON Partners’ upcoming 2Q22 deal report. In Capital Connections, we share the themes and trends highlighted in the upcoming report, including a record-breaking second quarter, declining deal size and trends for TAMP consolidation, broker-dealer acquisitions and debt-raising.

As always, we encourage you to share these stories with them via email or social media, especially LinkedIn!

Have a great week!