Pro-IBD Financial Services Institute Expands Its Lobbying "War Chest" Hot

The latest independent broker-dealer to register its members en masse is Investors Capital, which boasts over 500 advisors on its books.

Investors Capital went a few steps beyond LPL in its support for the lobbying group, which has included bringing RIAs under FINRA supervision in its policy agenda. 

While LPL only paid the first-year dues for its 12,000 advisors, Investors Capital is effectively paying its advisors' membership fees for life.

And it is matching any additional contributions they make to the group. At the firm's recent national conference, the matching program helped FSI raise at least $25,000.

Tim Murphy, the firm's longtime CEO, says "what's good for FSI is good for the industry."

Dale Brown, CEO at FSI, says his group has a five-year plan to get their agenda in front of lawmakers. Right now, they're going after the Labor Department's tighter fiduciary rules for retirement plan advisors as well as the SEC's efforts to meet Dodd-Frank requirements to apply the fiduciary code to all advisors.

They're not overconfident yet. As Brown says, "We need all the firepower we can get."

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