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A mini-Merrill springs up with its own broker-dealer and plans to grow

Two former Merrill higher-ups brought aboard two teams of Merrill brokers -- and they're just getting started

Author Kelly O'Mara December 3, 2012 at 6:56 AM
no description available
Rob Mooney: This is not about Merrill Lynch.

Stephen Winks

Stephen Winks

December 3, 2012 — 7:33 PM

John and Rob learned what works and what doesn’t work with Clearbrook, terribly important as many of their hard learned lessons are being repeated by other notable roll-ups which simply extrapolate the old brokerage business model.

Creating a large scale preemptive advisor value proposition around prudent process relative Merrill’s product distribution focus and reticence to support new advances in advisory services technology, is still the unfulfilled promise of this new generation of advisory firms.

John and Rob get it, and once established look for amazing things to come from Snowden based on their enthusiastic embrace of disruptive innovation to which Merrill can not respond.

SCW

Brooke Southall

Brooke Southall

December 3, 2012 — 7:36 PM

Hi Steve,

Do you know what Clearbrook was known for in the marketplace and what about it gives Snowden its own angle to approach the market?

thanks,

Brooke

Stephen Winks

Stephen Winks

December 4, 2012 — 1:20 AM

Not many start-up firms like Clearbrook can get a $50 million committment from the top private equity firm in the world. Very credible, very wise, understands the advice business like no other roll up, and now has no limiting factors that constrain innovation. I can’t name one firm that that does not have constraints that adversly affect a professional expert approach to advisory services. Particularly when it comes to conflict of interest management, trade execution, the free flow of data, modern approaches to portfolio construction, and modernity achieved through advanced technology tied to work flow management. All lessons learned at Clearbrook yet evident in every roll up in the business..

Snowden might be the first to break the mold..

SCW


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