Mark Tibergien, CEO of Pershing Advisor Solutions LLC, spoke about shifts advisors can make to recover from the stock market’s freefall, which has slashed revenue from AUM fees. To assure survival, advisors must reevaluate fee structures and aggressively cut expenses. “You have to begin thinking about what will truly make a difference in your business and what wouldn’t matter if you cut it,” said Tibergien. “And you need to act quickly to get your finances in line for a prolonged period of market turbulence.”
Tibergien said firms that adapt find independent financial advice in high demand. Investable assets in U.S. households are expected to grow $35 billion annually over the next four years, he said. Among the major trends Tierbergien suggested focusing on in the months ahead: using technology to increase efficiency, documenting your firm’s business and advice processes, and attending to internal security controls. He expects more mergers among independent advisory firms, as tighter profit margins push firms to seek economies of scale.

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Financial Crisis Webinar Series
Friday, January 23, 4 p.m. EST
SmartGrowth Mutual Funds, which invests solely in ETFs, has outperformed the market over the past 18 months by more than 20 percentage points and declined one-fifth as much as the S&P 500 in 4Q09.
Kevin Mahn, the funds' portfolio manager, will speak about how his funds select ETFs and which ETFs are most attractively positioned for 2009.