Dempsey Lord Smith, a former independent broker\/dealer managing $1 billion in assets, has decided to join Cambridge Investment Research as a wholly owned firm.<\/p>\n
Dempsey Lord Smith makes the move after operating as a broker\/dealer for 18 years under the leadership of CEO and founder Jerry Dempsey. Now, the Rome, Ga.-based advisory firm will broker\/dealer with Cambridge, which is competing with larger competitors LPL Financial, Osaic and Cetera to draw advisors.<\/p>\n
Dempsey Lord Smith made the move after deciding that it was no longer necessary to run a broker\/dealer to sustain growth and scale.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis partnership allows us to build on the strong community we’ve created while giving our advisors access to a deeper set of tools, technology and services,\u201d Dempsey said in a statement. \u201cTogether with Cambridge, we can accelerate their growth far faster than if we continued building it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dempsey left Raymond James in 2007 to start the firm with John Lord, vice president of compliance, and Ernest Smith, vice president of sales and marketing. They then built it into an advisor and employee network of about 88 people, according to data from ISS MI MarketPro\u2019s Discovery Data.<\/p>\n