As a small business owner myself, I’d like to introduce this new Forum for advisors considering going independent with a hearty welcome and encouragement for taking this big step! After a 15 year career both with Merrill Lynch and Schwab Institutional, I can vouch for the angst, confusion and nervousness for leaving an established position to building your own business. But, as with most big steps, once you’ve made the leap to going on your own, you are quickly going to realize that there is a vast world of opportunity out there. In fact, according to a recent survey, over 98% of advisors who’ve recently gone independent gladly report that they would do it again, given the chance.

Providing financial advice to investors is something that is not going to go out of style, and with baby boomers cycling toward retirement, the chaos on Wall Street, now more than ever, investors are looking to independence as the preferred model for receiving help on their investments and financial goals.

So, congratulations on taking this first step. Our mission here at the Independent Advisor Technology Forum is to provide you with a resource and industry portal to get your technology questions answered. Our consortium is made up of the leading independent software and technology providers who have innovated solutions to support independent financial advisors, many being led by former financial advisors themselves who bring their direct experience in working with investors and building efficiencies in service delivery.

I invite you to explore the site, and return frequently to this Forum, where we’ll have an ongoing dialogue with advisors considering independence and the experts in technology to answer their questions. Congratulations once again and I wish you the best of luck on your new endeavor!!

Tags: Tim Welsh

Posted on Friday, December 5th, 2008 at 10:39 pm under Advice on Going Independent
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Tim Welsh is the President and founder of Nexus Strategy, LLC. Prior to founding Nexus Strategy, Tim was the Director of Business Consulting Services for Schwab Institutional and a vice president at Merrill Lynch where he was responsible for financial advisor training for the financial planning group. Tim holds the Certified Financial Planner, CFP® designation and is an active member of the 28,500-member Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) serving in a leadership role on a number of task forces, committees and most recently as an elected member of the National Board of Directors from 2004-2006.