The combined pool of registered investment advisers in Orange County grew about 12% to 1,905, and the 29 firms on the Business Journal’s list combined to employ overall staffs totaling 7,022, up 16.5%.
That’s a big difference compared to last year’s list of 25 firms, which had cut adviser numbers to a combined 1,705 while hiring 2% more overall staffers, ending the year with 5,889.
This week’s list ranks wealth management firms and advisory divisions of financial services companies based on the number of registered representatives in their OC operations. Firms must have five registered advisers to be on the list.
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.
Representatives typically work for a broker-dealer company that’s registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. A registered representative is required to pass the Series 7 and Series 63 qualifying examinations.
The list also includes the firms’ number of offices in OC and companywide, though those figures don’t affect the rankings.
A total of 14 firms increased their number of registered representatives; five cut representatives, and three firms reported no changes year-over-year. Numbers for the remaining seven firms were flat based on Business Journal estimates.
The top five firms accounted for about 64%, or 1,220, of the registered representatives on the list. The four firms that debuted on the ranking this year added 88 registered representatives to the list total.
• Wells Fargo & Co.’s office in Newport Beach continued as the No. 1 firm with 460 advisers, six more than a year ago. The firm increased local staff by 22.8% to 5,190. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo had 110 locations in OC and 9,000 firmwide.
• Merrill Lynch Wealth Management’s Newport Beach office is No. 2 with 240 advisers, up 16%. The firm added five staffers for a total of 380. Charlotte, N.C.-based parent company Bank of America closed two offices in OC, leaving it with six local offices and 691 firmwide. The firm decided to consolidate advisers into new buildings in Newport Center at the beginning of September.
• Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC’s Irvine office is No. 3 with 220 advisers and 251 local staff, both unchanged from a year earlier. The firm closed three offices and now operates four in OC. It had 660 offices firmwide after closing 10.
• UBS Financial Services Inc. in Newport Beach is No. 4 with 192 advisers, up about 22% and the largest increase on the list. The firm cut about 9% of its staff, ending the year with 240 in OC. It had six local offices, up from two a year earlier. The company closed about 30% of all offices, leaving it with 208 firmwide.
• Centaurus Financial Inc. in Anaheim is No. 5 with 108 advisers, up 8%. The firm added six staffers to employ 78 locally. It added three offices, giving it 77 in OC, and 652 firmwide, up about 1%.
• D.A. Davidson & Co. in Newport Beach climbed two spots to No. 15 with a 52% increase in advisers to 32. The firm also increased local staff by 72% to employ 38. It added an office, giving it two in OC, and had 88 firmwide, up about 633%.
Newbies
Four firms joined the list this year:
• Tax and Financial Group in Newport Beach debuted at No. 9 with 45 advisers, up about 13%. The firm cut two local staffers to employ 49. It operates one office in OC and seven firmwide.
• Quest Capital Strategies Inc. in Lake Forest premiered at No. 16 with 30 advisers. It had 335 offices firmwide, down about 7%. The independent investment adviser declined to offer its numbers of employees and offices in OC.
• Newly launched Burnham Gibson Wealth Advisors Inc. in Irvine debuted at No. 25 with eight advisers and 12 staffers. It had one office.
• Aspiriant LLC in Irvine premiered at No. 28 with five advisers and six staffers. It had one office in OC and operates nine locations firmwide.
