Dozens of regional firms, once the center of local advise and capital, no longer exist. Firms such as Advest, McDonald & Co., Hanifen Imhoff, A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., Wheat First, and others, are long gone.
InvestmentNews looks at where they have gone, and why. But the demise of smaller brokerage firms is not limited to the regionals. In the beginning of my legal career there were over 6,000 broker-dealers. Today there are only 4,000.
That represents a shocking lack of choice for investors, and advisors.
Read the entire article at InvestmentNews: Inside the death of the regional broker-dealer:
