Commonwealth CEO Wayne Bloom brushes off rep pushback, spins off Advisor360 to sell formerly ...
Summary
When Wayne Bloom last cast the bones, he faced an existential dilemma: cannibalize his own business to save its much vaunted technology, or watch it wither on the vine as costs mounted. Wayne Bloom: The reality [is] that weve got to keep our advisors on the front edge, but keep costs as low as possible [and] the only way to do this is ... amortize that [technology] spend.On Feb. 13, Waltham, Mass.-based independent broker-dealer (IBD), Commonwealth spun off its software division as Advisor360. Commonwealth will reap plenty of cold hard cash if Advisor360 delivers on its promise, says Michael Kitces, founder of the Bozeman, Mont.-based XY Planning Network, and writer of the popular Nerds Eye View blog, via email. Mike McNamara: [Advisor360] will dramatically accelerate MassMutual’s ability to deliver ... across planning, protection and wealth management.These discussions came about once Commonwealth ruled out other revenue boosts, including relaxing its affiliation standards, and an acquisition spree. Lunch between Mass Mutual president John Vaccaro and Commonwealth CEO Wayne Bloom spurred Advisor360s leap from the whiteboard to the shop floor.Joe Durans Newport Beach, Calif.-based United Capital Financial Advisors, which manages $21.5 billion, began selling its in-house RIA software under the FinLife brand in 2016.