Brynwood Financial Is Exiting the Bank Brokerage Business

Citing too many big, entrenched competitors, Brynwood Financial Services has stopped helping banks set up brokerage programs.

Scott Heidel, president of the Rockville, Ill., firm, said that after more than two years of trying to penetrate banks, he is going to focus on his company's investment management business for individuals.

Mr. Heidel provided few details, but said that since the company was formed in 1992, it generated only three clients, two banks and a credit union.

"I was all dressed up with nobody to take me to the dance," he said.

Part of his problem was a lack of capital. He said he needed $250,000 to supply a bank with brokers and help it market the program. Mr. Heidel said his community bank and credit union clients, which he wouldn't name, contributed one-third to his bottom line.

He wouldn't reveal his earnings either, but he did say that 1994 was a bad year for the entire industry.

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