This is an area where we can really add immediate value to your situation. It's also an example of some of the peripheral support that's available to every advisor working with us.
Advisors often need help either forming an RIA or beginning to move more assets into an existing RIA which has previously gone unused. Our in—house transition and compliance specialists will help you to establish the best process for you based on your specific situation. Since we've been through the transition and RIA formation process so many times—including for our own practice—we know what to expect and how to guide you through properly setting things up.
Our team will walk through these questions with you to help you understand what you'll need to do in order to do things right the first time around. Initially, we'll work with you on certain questions which do need to be answered to start the ball rolling and determine your timeline and course of action; these will be revisited further into your transition.
We've found that it's absolutely possible for you to be a good business owner and do things right compliance—wise. We're familiar with your issues because FocusPoint is an RIA. We've also worked with and support many other RIAs, and therefore have various capable compliance and legal contacts.
You're free to leverage off of the resources and systems we already have in place. We strongly encourage you to use us a resource for this area and don't make the same mistakes as other advisors have made over the years.
While, in most cases, we will definitely recommend that you engage legal counsel to draft and file certain documentation, we're here to give you suggestions and recommendations throughout the process. At the end of the day, of course, it's your business to do with as you see fit.
>> Ongoing Support
“I remember vividly realizing I needed to make a change when I had a new client who had transferred over from a friend of mine. The prior advisor hadn’t had his eye on the business in the last year or so he was a broker. My new client owned some extremely poorly rated bond funds by that point—no matter which rating system you use—and I wanted to switch those out for a couple other much more reputable funds. When everything was said and done, I received an email from my IBD’s compliance department wondering how on earth I could have justified transferring from one bond fund to another. Rather than sending something back with some basic reasoning, I put together a 5-page email. In it I explained thoroughly my planning and review process, that if you took any time to look at things you would see the justification.
Don’t get me wrong—it wasn’t the compliance department at my IBD—it was the compliance environment everywhere. In my view, everything someone did to generate a commission, unless it was coming from cash, was questioned.”
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