The Williams Group

Overview

Our group was originally formed in 2001 when Dave Williams was an OSJ (Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction) at IFG Securities. In 2003, Dave brought a group of thirteen independent advisors to Grove Point Financial (GPF)our current broker-dealer. The group has now grown to 22 members located in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC, North Carolina and Florida.

Dave currently acts as the production group leader and holds the following registrations:

  • Series 6 - Investment Company Products/Variable Contracts Limited Representative
  • Series 7 - General Securities Representative
  • Series 24 - General Securities Principal
  • Series 51 - Municipal Fund Securities Principal
  • Series 63 - Uniform Securities Agent
  • Series 65 - Uniform Investment Advisor Law

Group Dynamics

  • CFP® Practitioners: 5
  • CPA’s: 10
  • Series 7 – licensees: 12
  • Grove Point Financial Representatives: 17
  • Insurance licensed professionals: 17
  • Average annual production per advisor: $210,000
  • Location of Member Offices: MD, DC, VA, NC and FL - We are however, interested in establishing new members throughout the country

Group Benefits

Member Liaison - Sandy Sakala, our member liaison has over 20 years’ experience with our firm and over 30 years of total financial services industry experience. Sandy’s primary function is to assist our production group members with operational issues and to help facilitate relations with the broker-dealer.

Payout Grid - We generally follow GPF's grid up to a maximum payout rate of 90%.  We also offer semi-annual payout reviews so if a member reaches the next threshold on our payout scale by mid-year, we will submit a payout increase request at that time. However, if a member's production decreases during the year, we will not request a reduction in payout until the calendar year is complete.

Meetings - We have at least one face to face group meeting each year, usually in conjunction with a broker/dealer conference.  We supplement these meetings with monthly or quarterly conference calls during the year to discuss practice management, compliance issues, new products, case studies and related issues that our members request or we feel may be helpful. Since our MD office is located just a few minutes from GPF, we also have the ability to utilize their state-of-the-art training room facility for large group meetings.

Grove Point Management – We have direct lines of communication with GPS's executive management team and routinely provide feedback and suggestions on a wide range of issues. As one of the largest groups in the GPF network, management routinely solicits input from us on how the firm can better serve our needs and the needs of other  advisors.

Succession Planning – We work with our members to help them develop and execute a succession plan or implement a practice continuation agreement. If needed, we will attempt to help members find relevant succession or continuation partners for their practice.

Transition - Although we do not directly assist with the paperwork aspect of transitioning clients or processing specific business, we do provide advice and assistance to facilitate the process.  In most cases, GFP’s staff is able to help with any transition issues.

Ongoing Support – We are typically the first call many members make with regard to compliance, operations, and software issues, alternative investment ideas, and unique client cases.  We assist with Morningstar portfolio analyses for new clients and provide emergency back-up for individual members when needed.
 

Joining The Williams Group

We feel that the above benefits make our group unique and provide a place where an independent financial professional, perhaps alone in their individual offices, can really feel like they're a part of a larger organization where they can exchange ideas with others on a variety of subjects without the fear of competition or of breaching their client's confidentiality.

Our best fit in adding a new potential member to our group is one that already has an established practice, usually in the accounting, legal or insurance fields and is looking to expand into the financial planning and investment advisory areas.  Having “been there and done that”, we think we're in a unique position to counsel and grow this type of financial professional as they make this transition and build their practice. 

If you are currently an independent financial professional considering changing broker-dealers or are already in the GPF network and have ever thought about the benefits of a production group, we would be happy to discuss how The Williams Group might be able to help grow your practice.

Please give us a call at 301-294-7804 or contact us at sandy@williamsgroups.com.