Bertha was tiring of compliance and the increasing MFDA administrative burdens but wasn’t
sure what to do. The Portfolio Manager model appealed to her but given that she is not a
Portfolio Manager herself, the ICPM required her to give up her MFDA license and become a
“Referral Advisor.”
“Quite candidly I wasn’t keen on giving up my license,” Bertha said. “It has been my meal ticket.”
But Bertha continued to weigh the pros and cons and she finally took the plunge and became a
referral advisor to a prominent ICPM.
Two years later Bertha reports full satisfaction with her decision. She has had all admin and
compliance tasks taken off her desk while retaining ownership of her practice. This has freed up
her time to grow the business and, including consolidating assets of existing clients, she
increased her book from $100M to $120M AUM in less than two years.
Bertha also feels that her clients are better served by portfolio managers. And given that her
payout went up to 100 bps, she also has more cash flow to fund her community and charitable
work and this has elevated her community involvement and recognition. In her words: “I’m so
thankful to get rid of all of that administrative work so that I can bring more value to my clients
and to my community.”
