If you’ve been reading my newsletters (hot-list or not), you know I’m a huge advocate of advisors getting their Series 65 license and working as IARs under an RIA (or becoming an RIA if that model makes sense).
In the last few years the majority of IMOs have started referral arrangements with various RIAs in the industry. Why?
1) To help advisors avoid regulatory problems by having them get a 65 and work as an IAR under an RIA that is affiliated with the IMO.
2) It’s a big profit center for IMOs (they can make a trail fee on all the AUM brought in by the recruited agents).
3) For some, the RIA platform can help advisors sell more fixed business.
As I do, I’ve reviewed just about every major IMO’s RIA relationship and for the most part I’m totally unimpressed by what I’ve seen.
I was so unimpressed that I wrote a newsletter titled: Agents Beware of IMOs Offering RIA Services (updated 2015). To read this article, click on the following link: http://www.pomplanning.net/beware-imo-ria.
Big IMO is Switching from RedHawk to POM Planning
Yesterday I received a call from the President of one of the larger IMOs in the industry. He said he should have listened to me six months ago when I told him that the RIA he was recommending to his agents was inferior on multiple levels to www.pomplanning.net.
I indicated that the low drawdown risk managers at POM Planning were better (not to mention that there are several more to choose from) and that POM Planning’s two-day training was the best in the industry.
Six months after our call, the call I received yesterday was simple and to the point. The President of the IMO said he made a mistake not listening to me and that they had made the decision to leave RedHawk to go work with www.pomplanning.net.
Why should readers care?
It took a lot for the President of a large IMO to call me and say he made a mistake. It should tell you that if you have not taken a look at www.pomplanning.net as “the” go-to RIA for insurance agents who have their 65, maybe you should.
If you are working as an IAR under another RIA recommended by an IMO, you certainly should compare their offering to that of www.pomplanning.net. I think once you do, you’ll see there is no comparison.
With the DOL regulations coming down that will hinder thousands of agents from selling fixed annuities (FIAs specifically) in IRAs and qualified plans, it’s my belief that any insurance agent who isn’t seriously thinking of getting a 65 and working as an IAR under an RIA should really reexamine that position.
Roccy DeFrancesco, JD
Founder, The Wealth Preservation Institute
144 Grand Blvd
Benton Harbor, MI 49022
269-216-9978
