FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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About IFP
How was IFP founded?
It all started in 1995 when William E. Hamm & Associates entered the industry as an RIA. Their greatest mission was to help clients reach their financial goals. While the practice grew, Bill learned that empowering financial professionals could make a greater impact on clients.
How many financial professionals are affiliated with IFP?
IFP has a network of 224 financial professionals covering 29 states.
(As of 3/31/24)
What is IFP’s mission statement?
Our mission is to build the greatest network of independent financial professionals who can confidently count on us to uplift, empower, and fully support their practices.Â
What lines of business does IFP support?
IFP Securities, LLC (the broker dealer), IFP Advisors, LLC (the registered investment advisor) and IFP Insurance Services are collectively referred to as Independent Financial Partners (“IFP”). Our broker-dealer business clears through Pershing, our advisory business allows for custody at multiple platforms, and our insurance agency partners with the Pinnacle Group for fixed business.
Which custodians are available for advisory business?
IFP offers financial professionals the choice of one of four custodians including Pershing LLC, Charles Schwab, Fidelity, and SEI. In additional, our financial professionals can choose from our lineup of third part asset managers.
IFP Support
I'm looking to experience the benefits of a large firm with the support of a smaller one.
We’ve heard countless times how financial professionals feel like just a number to a larger firm. At IFP, we know you by name, providing tailored customer service for your needs. At the start of your IFP journey, you are assigned a member of our service team dedicated to your onboarding process. Once fully on board, you have direct access to our whole service team to assist you with any issues or questions — no matter how small.Â
How can I increase my revenue with IFP
Payouts aren’t everything. But they’re important. IFP’s payout levels allow our financial professionals to increase their bottom line so they can reinvest in their business and increase the value of their firm. Let us put together a financial pro forma for you to review today!
How can IFP help if I want to go independent but have no brand or name?
IFP has an in-house design team, the IFP Design Group, that works with advisors to create brand names, logos, websites, and more. For new advisors we offer a complete branding package at no cost to show our thanks for your business.
As an RIA, I have a lot of regulatory burden but I'm hesitant to give up control. Why would I drop the RIA and join IFP?
At IFP we believe the value of your business is exactly that, your business. If you own and run your own RIA there are aspects of doing that that can take your focus away from what you might be best at, which is servicing clients and growing your business. At IFP, you can retain up to 97% of your revenues in exchange for compliance and operational support, but you still own your business and your brand. You can offload the regulatory burden without giving up too much.
What services does IFP Asset Management provide?
IFPAM provides our financial professionals with:
1. A multi-credentialed investment team able to act as an extension of your own practice, helping to bolster your investment team and improve credibility.Â
2. Model investment portfolios to use with their clients.
3. The ability to build a customized investment strategy that incorporates the financial professional’s own investment philosophy for those who want to remain part of the investment process.
4. Execution of trades for any managed account, freeing up time for financial professionals to focus on more revenue generating and value-added tasks. Additionally, IFPAM can handle investing account contributions, freeing up cash for withdrawals, and any other trading tasks.
What does IFP’s Client Services team provide?
The IFP Client Services team is a team of administrative support specialists who act as virtual assistants for any financial professionals participating in the program. Your dedicated client services associate can help with account opening paperwork, money movement requests, special projects, answering phones, placing trades, booking appointments, and para-planning.
What marketing services does IFP offer?
Our team is here to help support you and make you look good. We’re here to help brainstorm with you to see what marketing pieces you might need to help support you and your business. Some examples of projects included in our services: Branding/logo creation, business cards, letterhead, websites, email templates, single and multi-page brochures, form creation and the list goes on.
Does IFP provide IT support?
IFP has an in-house IT team who are standing by each day to help our financial professionals with Level 1 IT support issues. We also offer a paid service that allows you to leverage IFP’s IT team as your own outsourced IT team for a monthly fee.
Payouts & Transitions
How are payouts set for a financial professional joining IFP?
When a Financial Professional (FP) joins IFP, their payout level is set based on the trailing 12-month production at their previous firm. The FP remains at that payout level for the remainder of the year in which they join IFP plus the following year. After that period, their payout level is re-evaluated based on the previous year’s production and reset accordingly.
What happens if a financial professional eclipses a new payout tier mid-year?
If during any year, a Financial Professional’s production exceeds the next threshold, their payout increases accordingly from that point on for the remainder of the year. As an example, a Financial Professional who produced $450,000 the prior year would receive a 92% payout for the upcoming year. If in August of that year, the advisor exceeds $500,000 of production, then he or she would receive a payout 93% for every dollar north of $500,000 up until the end of the year. The enhanced payout is not retroactive to the beginning of the year.
Does IFP enhance a financial professional’s payout level if they're part of a team?
If 2 or more Financial Professionals are part of a group, meaning they do joint work or operate under the same brand, then we will underwrite the combined business to come up with a customized enhanced payout. For example, if two FPs operate under the DBA XYZ Financial, Producer A 400k GDC and Producer B 600k GDC the combined payout would be 95% based on $1m in production. (Please note: a FP under 250k in production is not will be excluded from enhanced payout grid.
How long does the transition to IFP typically take?
Our official transition period is 90 days upon registering with our firm, however, most financial professionals move the bulk of their business well before 90 days.
Do I get a dedicated transition liaison?
Every financial professional who transitions to IFP is paired with a dedicated liaison who acts as the advisor’s point person for any all questions, issues, and needs throughout the transition process.
Does IFP offer transition dollars?
We put together custom transition packages for each advisor based on his or her needs. You can work with our recruiter to see what is available to you.
How does IFP support transitioning financial professionals who don't have a dba name or brand?
Our team will provide you an entire branding package at no cost to you to get you up and running. Our branding package consists of logo creation, style guide, business cards, letterhead, envelopes, email signature and a single page website.