The prognosis for Morgan, Merrill, UBS and Wells is even grimmer than the negative hype, Cerulli report shows

If consumers have a say in outlook for wirehouses, regional b/ds, independent b/ds, dually resistered RIAs, RIAS, Banks and Insurance, market share will be won based on the depth and breadth of counsel, cost and service demonstrably in the best interests of the investing public. There are no broker/dealers which can compete on this basis, certainly no insurance advisors, the only segments that can compete on the basis of technical competency, cost and fiduciary standing are RIAs, thus an all important competitive markert advantage.

Though wirehouses clearily see the future and advisor productivity is in advisory services, the broker , by design, is still not responsible or accountable for their recommendations, and until the industry is prepaired to make advice safe, scalable, easy to execute and manage as a high margin business at the advisor level—it will loose market share to RIAs as will other channels of distribution that are focused on product distribution and not the well being of the conssumer and the investing public.

Very capable young men who have choices, will not acceptthe brokerage industry’s inability to adapt at the expense of the best interest of the investing public. More importantly, with the FSA now requiring fiduciary standing of advisors, outlawing commission sales, America is loosing its global advisory services leadership mantle to Singapor, Hong Kong, London, Australia who have embraced XBRL and the free flow of data essential for the continuous comprehensive counel required for fiduciary standing, not possible in the US where broker/dealers control data flow which impedes innovation.

This leadership vacuum in the brokerage industry, will result in the loss of US pre-emmence in global advisory services and places every broker in a inferior competitive markrt position—which dictates competitive market share. What is so sad is the brokerage industery knows its push back against the fiduciary standing of brokers is self defeating. Disclosing conflicts is not the equivalent of eliminating conflictss. It is that simple.—yet without positive steps to support fiduciary standing. the end result is a loss of relevence and forfeiting global market leadership and domestic market share.Unnecessary self destruction, if any broker/dealer, just one, were up to advisory services leasdership.

SCW