Call them the "In" Crowd, and they're talking about you.

Once or twice a year a group of fund industry execs, including a number of fund selectors at the major broker-dealer networks, meet up at the offices of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

Dubbed the Mutual Fund Broker Dealer Roundtable, the event features SIFMA members who are also are upper-level people in a variety of mutual fund firms as well as the retail broker-dealer space. Very likely lead gatekeepers at the major wirehouses and B-D networks are among the attendees.

About fifteen to twenty-five people show up to each meeting. The number of people who show up depends on their availability. The people who attend these meetings are SIFMA members, who are also are upper-level people in a variety of firms who are involved in mutual funds and the retail broker-dealer space, John Maurello, managing director of SIFMA, and Andrew DeSouza, SIFMA spokesman recently told MFWire.

The roundtable occurs anywhere from once to twice a year. Maurello said, “These meetings are not heavily structured.” Thus, these meetings can take place in a wide variety of locations, depending on how SIFMA decides to plan the meeting. Maurello cited that in the past, meetings have taken place in New York and Washington, DC.

Maurello said that roundtable offers members "a good way for peers to discuss what they have done, enhance the way they provide service, learn from the experiences of others who attend the meeting, and stay current as to what is going on."

Both Maurello and Desouza declined to release the names of the roundtable members, and the companies they represent, but more detailed information is available to SIFMA members.

But it is safe to say that at least some high-ranking fund selectors from the major broker-dealer networks, which ones in specific it is unknown.

However, some examples of high-ranking gatekeepers known to MFWire editorial staff include Sandy Motusesky at Pershing; Kian Rafia at Cetera Financial Group; Simon Heslop at Commonwealth Financial, and Thomas Murphy at LPL Financial.

Others include Frank McCarthy at Ameriprise Financial; Andy Gottfried at Raymond James Financial Services, Inc.; Doug Hanson at Charles Schwab and Carolyn Clancy at Fidelity/National Financial Services (NFS).

Still others on the MFWire database include Steven Stuart at TD Ameritrade; Peter Thatch at Merrill Lynch; Paul Weisenfeld at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management; James Langham at UBS; and Leann Markovitz at Wells Fargo. 

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