Arvest Bulks Up, Market Drives Broker Demand

Arvest Asset Management increased its Northwest Arkansas broker staff by 157 percent over the last year, from 21 to 54. The brokerage and financial management arm of Arvest Bank Group in Lowell, Arvest Asset’s army of registered representatives makes it the largest local firm on the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s annual list of brokerages.

Mel Parks, Arvest Asset’s president, said that not all of those brokers are actually advising clients. He said the company has “quite a few” brokers who simply take orders and make trades, while the remainder function as client advisers who do investment consultation.

“We want our client advisers to spend more one-on-one time with our customers,” Parks said. “If you just want to call up and make your own trade, you don’t necessarily need to speak to one of our advisers for that. We want to make sure if a client comes in or calls, that we have someone available who can help.”

A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc., which came in second, with 44 brokers, was No. 1 in 1999 with 45 registered area reps.

The top five local brokerages a year ago — A.G. Edwards followed by Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Merrill Lynch Pierce Fenner & Smith, Arvest and Edward D. Jones & Co. — collectively increased their staffs by 41 percent. That’s a jump from 134 brokers last year in Benton and Washington counties to 189 in 2000.

Morgan Stanley has increased its broker staff 31 percent, from 26 in 1999 to 34 this year. Merrill Lynch’s staff is up 45 percent, and Edward D. Jones, 15 percent.

James “Doc” Holladay, A.G. Edwards’ Fayetteville branch manager, said that the local brokerage expansions were simply a product of the overall bull market. Coupled with Northwest Arkansas’ own prosperity, the strong market means there’s room for more brokers.

“Bull markets don’t end just because of time,” Holladay said. “They end because of things like war or huge changes in government policy, which I do not foresee at the moment. What drives the market is more money coming into it, and that money having a reason to stay there.

“Because of the number of people nationally who are reaching the age where they plan for retirement, and the fact there’s really not a valid alternative for investments, we could still have a good market for another decade.”

AXA Advisors, a division of AXA Financial Inc., has more than doubled its local staff in the last two years. AXA’s Springdale branch manager and vice president, Troy Kestner, said the company was focusing on being service-oriented.

Irving Carey, a vice president with Charles Schwab in Springdale, said his firm’s recently publicized warchest of more than $1 trillion is helping it add to its already large client base. He said Schwab has more than 3,000 local clients.

“This has been a challenging year because the market has forced clients to reevaluate their portfolios from a bigger picture perspective,” Carey said. “It was that clients could buy whatever and make money. But the recent volatility has made everyone reevaluate their risk tolerance. We strive to help clients identify that tolerance and place them in investments that are true to their objectives.”

Stephens Inc., the Little Rock securities firm, has for the last 18 months focused on growing its retail business largely outside of Arkansas. But CEO Warren Stephens said a substantial Northwest Arkansas expansion is also in the works. The Fayetteville branch will soon move in to a 11,660-SF office suite.

American Express Financial Advisors, with 135 broker dealers throughout Arkansas, is the fastest-growing brokerage statewide. Its staff grew 93 percent, from 70 brokers in 1999. But the firm only has one broker in its Springdale office, and the next closest branch is in Eureka Springs.

“We don’t have plans to open another Northwest Arkansas office over the next six months,” said Matt Morrison, American Express’ Little Rock branch manager. “But we are interested in expanding up there in the future.”

(Don Chaney contributed to this report.)