Rumors of the deaths of brokers may be slightly exaggerated this year, according to the Business Journal’s annual list.
Brokers were considered going out of style as investors did their own trading, used robo advisers, or relied on registered investment advisers.
However, Orange County’s largest broker-dealers increased their registered representatives last year by 9.4% to 1,751, compared to a 1.4% decrease on last year’s list.
The 28 firms also increased their overall headcount 2.3% to 2,495, this week’s list shows.
Data on the firms and their headcount was as of May.
Starting on page 28, the list ranks broker-dealers, which can include wealth managers, based on the number of registered representatives in their OC operations. A registered representative is a licensed professional who trades securities, such as stocks, bonds, and options, on behalf of clients for a fee or commission. Firms must have at least five registered representatives to make the list.
Notables
• Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, a unit of Bank of America Corp., for the second consecutive year took the top spot, with an estimated 295 registered representatives in OC this year. On last year’s list, it reported 260 advisers.
Merrill’s OC offices include spots in Newport Beach, Irvine and Seal Beach. Its regional manager is Joe Holsinger.
• No. 2 Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in Newport Beach increased its number of registered financial representatives to 212.
• No. 3 Wells Fargo Advisors reported 197 registered representatives, a 13% increase from a year ago.
• The biggest decline was 14% to 42 advisers at No. 13 Lincoln Financial Network/Sagemark Consulting.
RIAs Popularity Continues in OC
Registered investment advisers are proving the popularity of their industry in Orange County.
The RIAs listed in this week’s directory, starting on page 31, increased their assets under management (AUM) to $254.5 billion as of Dec. 31, about double the amount three years ago.
They also boosted their assets under advisement (AUA) to $197.3 billion from $110.4 billion in 2016. Firms listing AUA don’t have discretion over those funds, but derive a fee for advice on where to invest.
RIAs often say they give independent advice to avoid conflicts such as broker-dealers that may be promoting their company’s own investment funds or selling insurance products alongside stock picks.
Furthermore, some firms such as Newport Beach’s Canterbury Consulting Inc., which is prominent in nonprofit circles, don’t neatly fit into the ranking by assets under management, where they have about $1 billion, compared to the unranked AUA, where they have about $23 billion.
We highlight 30 firms with at least $860 million in AUM; that cutoff figure left some interesting RIAs off the list.
Falling off this year’s list was Newport Beach’s United Financial Capital Advisers LLC, which last year listed $21.5 billion in assets. Last year, it was acquired by Goldman Sachs for $750 million.
—Peter J. Brennan
