"the way you treat others affects the business you do."
My experience began when my previous broker/dealer “transitioned”, or perhaps sold us out to Hilltop/Momentum. That segment would have gone smoothly except for the ineptitude of the Transition Team; best described as being an oaf. (But there is more than one so the plural would be ‘oafs’ or ‘oaves.’) My last interaction with them was to ask for assistance, which was refused and ended when they told me “you are past the transition window.” I responded in my normal way with entities that prove to be worthless - taking them off speed dial and find another way!
The next issue confirmed that I was with a broker/dealer that did not share my values and dedication to the client. I received a call from what I will refer to as the “Allocation Know It All” forcing me to take profits in a successful investment in a non-qualifed account, triggering a 1099 on the gain, due to selecting an investment that did so well that it surpassed the concentration threshold! Duh, that’s what happens when you diversify and buy some growth, some moderate, and some conservative. (I was fortunate that the client seemed to understand my predicament and reluctantly accepted the abuse and impaired reasoning but saw through the manipulation as protection of the firm not the client!)
That was not the only ‘know it all’ as compliance has to have their way too. Even after leaving Hilltop/Momentum, I was named as a “trusted contact” for a client whose family had been with me for almost my entire 41 year career. They suffered a tragic loss to the father and my role was to assist in transferring to the surviving son. To me this was more than serving as a trusted contact but as a fiduciary to put the client’s wellbeing above my own. Not only did compliance refuse to honor the client’s requests, but ended my only call by telling me “this conversation is over!” Once informed, the client asked a rather revealing but embarrassing question: Why were you ever with a company like Hilltop in the first place?” Then the client e-mailed the know it all’s with this: “Even if it takes legal action, I will wind up with the account my Dad left for me and you will look like an A$$.”
The culture at Hilltop/Momentum is indicative of many with:
1. More authority than ability!
2. Relentless efforts to protect the firm without regard for the client and rep who pay the bills. (Control>Manipulate>Exploit)
3. Accountability to no one. (Apparent ignorance or oblivion to the internet, social media and The First Amendment!)
4. The belief that there will always be reps and clients to manipulate while rationalizing “it’s for their own good” as justification!
5. The belief that if nothing else works, ignore them and they’ll give up and go away.
The environment I have described would not exist without these deficiencies at the top: leadership, management, supervision. (Those who are supposed to take care of those things at Hilltop/Momentum were probably made to wear “dunce” hats when in grammar school.) And how do dunces spend their day? Sucking up TO one another then covering FOR one another! That apparently leaves little time for activities that executives at other companies find useful, i.e., keeping up with industry trends. As more of the traditional brokerage account holders die out, the heirs either spend it, trade on line if no advice is needed or if they DO need advice, they get an advisory RIA account. In view of the trends you might expect the broker/dealers to attempt to hang on by being more accommodating. Which is more prevalent at Hilltop/Momentum: not knowing or not even suspecting?
Along the way I received a DocuSign to agree to have my payout cut – no explanation, no call, no letter. I learned firsthand that Hilltop/Momentum had redefined both “inconsiderate” and “unprofessional” simultaneously! That’s actually being polite – otherwise I would use the term “lower life form!”
Next, came the decision to cease opening new advisory accounts at Schwab, which was the bulk of my business. This decision was likely made to force clients into their in-house proprietary platform and was the last straw in my decision to leave behind the repugnant and replace with the accommodating – an RIA. I can now see that only a collection of buffoons would think they could do advisory better than Schwab! This situation culminated with an existing individual Schwab account asking to open a new joint account with Schwab. I tried to explain the attempt to manipulate and exploit. But a happy ending as all that family’s accounts left Hilltop and now have something with me at Schwab that Momentum will never understand – the client’s wellbeing and comfort level. In fact, 100% of my Hilltop/Momentum accounts moved, validating that the way you treat others affects the business you do.