Fundsters should send their wholesalers to talk to financial advisors, not to super-OSJs, at least in the eyes of one super-OSJ's chief.

Darin Stevens, president of Duluth, Georgia-based Advisors Southeastern Alliance, recently talked to MFWire about asset managers, industry trends, and his firm's impending broker-dealer alignment shift. The Atlanta area firm is scheduled to shift to LPL this coming Friday, February 16, after LPL bought the NPH family of B-Ds (including Invest Financial Corporation, ASA's current B-D).

ASA manages more than $1.2 billion in brokerage and advisory assets.

Stevens does want support asset managers, specifically in the form of support for the FAs who affiliate with ASA.

"Ever-increasingly we see our margins being squeezed and costs going up," Stevens says. "Whatever help [asset managers] can give in the area of supporting somebody's business is paramount."

Yet Stevens urges fundsters to go directly to FAs, not to OSJs like his shop.

"My phone rings off the hook on a daily basis with wholesalers and vendor reps trying to get in front of me," Stevens says. "You're wasting your time trying to get in front of me."
ASA does hold "one or two meetings a year" where fundsters can participant, Stevens says, though he tries to limit vendors' remarks to avoid wasting FAs' time.

As for the transition to LPL, Stevens praises the indie B-D's team as "actually very client-facing."

"Working with the folks at LPL I've discovered that they're not the big behemoth that I imagined them to be," Stevens says. "Their size offers great opportunities and fiscal strength to go out and recruit and grow my business."

"My business is helping reps increase their business, and LPL offers a great track to run on," Stevens adds. 

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