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HOLBROOK, N.Y. (Aug. 29, 2018)—American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. (AP), an independent broker/dealer that serves affiliated financial advisors nationwide, is proud to announce that it has been named Broker/Dealer of the Year in 2018 by Investment Advisor magazine for the fourth year in a row. For the past 28 years, Investment Advisor magazine’s editorial staff have invited registered representatives of independent broker/dealers (B/Ds) to rate their B/D in 15 distinct categories. The B/Ds that receive the highest average rating from their affiliated professionals are named Broker/Dealers of the Year in four divisions based on their number of producing representatives. AP won Division III, gaining top votes in the category of broker/dealers with 500-999 producing advisors.
Since AP’s inception in 2001, the independent business model in its purest form remains the foundation and guiding principle upon which the firm was built, and a belief system drawing many affiliated colleagues and personnel to the independent broker/dealer who are personally and professionally invested in its future. “American Portfolios’ purpose is to serve by leading with a servant’s heart, connecting with people who don’t want to entirely go it alone, while helping them to fulfill their goals, dreams and desires,” states American Portfolios CEO and President Lon T. Dolber. “We do this by giving the practitioner—AP’s affiliated investment professionals—the financial service systems, tools, products, platforms and processes needed in order for them to do the very best job for the investing public.”
The announcement of AP’s Division III 2018 Broker/Dealer of the Year Award will be formally made in the September 2018 issue of Investment Advisor magazine. “There is an incredible pace of change taking place in the advisory business today tied to the increasing role of private equity investments, consolidation, regulatory change, fee compression and other factors,” said Janet Levaux, editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine. “We are extremely proud to recognize four broker/dealers, and a group of runners-up, for their ability to support their advisors with innovative and stellar programs tied to technology, regulation, succession planning and more. These broker/dealers represent the best leadership in the business; they demonstrate the power of honest, open-minded and thorough consideration of the many complex issues facing the business today.”
The firm has always put a great deal of emphasis on building strong proprietary technology, including its business processing and supervisory Web service STARS, its highly-developed and custom-built advisory technology platform Portfolio Insight, and HomePort—a platform which brings together all of AP’s proprietary technology, as well as vendor-licensed programs and services, such as Albridge Wealth Reporting; NetX360, Pershing’s digitally enabled wealth management platform; and CommWeb, a sales management software and performance measurement system through Xtiva Financial Systems. AP’s proprietary technology is consistently enhanced and improved through the development of value-added features and extended levels of service; this is most recently quantified with the establishment of HomePort – Client Access, a new investor-focused application within HomePort that AP’s affiliated colleagues may now offer their clients as a value-added service to perform various online functions that enable them to engage more directly with their accounts.
Additionally, AP’s Nine Points Advisory Services Platform, which is comprised of its advisor- and institutionally-managed programs, including Nine Points Investment Management (NPIM)—an alternative asset management solution and resource providing research, due diligence, product support and in-house model management—has undergone recent enhancements. Now, the firm’s affiliated financial advisors can offer their clients NPIM Impact Portfolios as investment options. Through Socially Responsible Investing (SRI), these portfolios select investments using Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) criteria to provide advisors with a total portfolio solution.
As always, the firm remains committed to providing peer-to-peer networking and business-building opportunities through a strategically planned series of meetings. With best practices outreach for its affiliated advisors through its business development team and Connections Tour, the independent broker/dealer looks forward to hosting its annual national conference, bringing together affiliated colleagues, key AP staff members and business partners to engage in a full agenda of valued-added meetings and networking opportunities to further learn from one another. Positioned as an educational and business conference, Connections 2018 is set to take place at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun from Oct. 24 – 26, 2018. In addition to a wealth of practice management offerings and valuable focus partner symposiums, this annual event will feature compelling keynote addresses by author, entrepreneur and former sports agent Molly Fletcher; Army veteran, author and motivational speaker Col. Gregory D. Gadson; Senior Investment Strategist Brian Levitt of OppenheimerFunds; and author and strategic business consultant C. Richard Weylman.
In addition to being named B/D of the Year for 2015, 2016 and 2017 by Investment Advisor magazine, the firm was also ranked in the Top Ten Best Companies to Work for in New York by the New York State Society for Human Resources Management (NYS-SHRM) and the Best Companies Group (BCG) in 2016, 2017 and 2018. These notable achievements stem from hard work and dedication to provide the best support, products and services to its investment professionals so that they can run their businesses more efficiently, which ultimately translates into successful and long-standing client relationships. AP holds firm to its promise to always act with integrity and to never sacrifice its advisors’ or clients’ interests for the sake of its own.
The firm holds itself responsible not only to its customers, but also to the community at large. AP is actively engaged in socially responsible endeavors by participating in and sponsoring events through non-profit organizations such as World T.E.A.M. (WT), The Center for Discovery (The Center), Virtual Enterprises International (VEI), Thame Sherpa Heritage Fund, The Butterfly Effect Project and Honor Flight Long Island. Earlier this year, Dolber was formally named the Center’s 2018 honoree at the Evening of Discovery Gala, which raised more than $1 million in gross revenue to support the non-profit organization’s essential programs and services geared toward children and adults annually who have complex disabilities, medical frailties and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). 2018 also marks AP’s 11th WT Face of America (FOA) bike ride, which covered more than 111.8 miles from Washington, D.C., to the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pa., in support of the non-profit organization’s mission to change lives through sports. Team American Portfolios earned the distinction of being the top fundraiser for the 2018 WT FOA, raising more than $100,000 in charitable donations to directly support events that join able-bodied and adaptive men, women and children to accomplish physically-challenging feats they never dreamed possible. In 2019, AP will once again proudly participate and serve as the presenting sponsor for WT’s annual FOA.
About American Portfolios
Headquartered in Holbrook, N.Y., American Portfolios Financial Services, Inc. (APFS) is a full-service, independent broker/dealer and member firm of FINRA and SIPC, offering a complete range of financial services, including personal financial and retirement planning, securities trading, mutual funds, access to investment research, long-term care planning, insurance products and tax-free investing. Fee-based asset management is offered through its sister subsidiary, American Portfolios Advisors, Inc., (APA), an SEC Registered Investment Advisor. Both entities, along with technology entity American Portfolios Advisory Solutions, LLC, collectively reside under the legal entity American Portfolios Holdings, Inc. (APH). Full-service securities brokerage is available through a clearing firm relationship with Pershing, LLC, a BNY Mellon firm, the securities of which are held on a fully disclosed basis. The company currently serves 816 independent investment professionals located in 376 branch locations throughout the nation. It was named Broker-Dealer of the Year* (Division III) by Investment Advisor magazine in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, as well as one of the top 10 Best Companies to Work for in the state of New York for 2016, 2017 and 2018 by the New York State Society for Human Resources Management (NYS-SHRM) and the Best Companies Group (BCG).
*Based on a poll of registered representatives conducted by Investment Advisor magazine. Broker/dealers rated highest by their representatives are awarded “Broker/Dealer (B/D) of the Year.”
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