Barry Ritholtz, Columnist

Stock-Brokerage Industry Enters the Twilight Years

Technology makes it easier to start an independent firm, while more salespeople shift from earning commissions to charging fees.

July 19, 2017 at 4:03 PM UTC

By Barry Ritholtz

Barry Ritholtz is a former Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He is chairman and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management, and was previously chief market strategist at Maxim Group. He is the author of “Bailout Nation.”

That was then.
Photographer: Michael Brennan

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

I begin today’s column with a mea culpa: I have been expecting the imminent death of the brokerage industry for about 20 years. This is something I have been dead wrong about.

Since the mid-1990s, I have been astonished by the idea that anyone would ever buy stocks over the phone from a cold-calling1500478368776 stranger; I couldn’t believe that anyone would find the large advertising campaigns for expensive products persuasive; or that something as important as saving for buying a home, or paying for your kids’ college or even retirement could be treated so cavalierly.