Corporation for American Banking, an American Bankers Association subsidiary, has launched a program called Select Investment Provider that endorses and recommends third-party marketers to banks that want to sell alternative products.
Three third-party marketers, two national and one regional, have received the first recommendations under the program. The list was developed over six months in conjunction with American Brokerage Consultants, an independent firm in St. Petersburg, Fla., that focuses on third-party marketers.
The two national firms are Raymond James Financial Services of St. Petersburg and Uvest Investment Services of Charlotte, N.C. The third firm, UMB Scout Brokerage of Kansas City, Mo., received a regional endorsement.
We were looking to have [third-party marketers] that werent identical, said Richard A. Ayotte, president and CEO of the Florida consulting firm. One marketer cannot cover every need, he said. For example, Raymond James is a full-service broker, and Uvest has its roots as a discount broker. They are different.
Security First Group, a MetLife subsidiary based in Los Angeles, had been the ABAs third-party marketer for the past five years, but is no longer on the endorsed list. The current choices will be reviewed every year, and the endorsement period will run for three years.
