Are you an independent financial firm looking to understand more about OSJs (Offices of Supervisory Jurisdiction) and what working with a large enterprise could do for you? If so, please read on. 

We’ll be exploring what an OSJ/Large Enterprise actually is, highlighting various key characteristics, and exploring how they can potentially benefit your firm. With this knowledge at your fingertips, you’ll be better equipped to determine if working with an OSJ/Large Enterprise is right for your practice.

This article discusses the following:

  • What is an Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction/Large Enterprise?
  • The potential to grow your business without taking on overhead
  • Why a family environment means you don’t have to go it alone
  • Leverage human, personalized, and friendly customer service

What Is an Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction/Large Enterprise?

An OSJ oversees financial firms’ activities and reviews their practices to ensure that everything adheres to applicable regulations and laws. That’s why “OSJ” stands for “Office of Supervisory Jurisdiction.” They provide oversight to financial professionals of all kinds, including those who do advisory and commission business, independent RIAs, and more.

OSJs are typically staffed with one or more principals who are licensed by FINRA and state regulators who have been approved by their state regulator. Usual business days will include reviewing and approving client transactions for affiliated financial professionals while working with those financial planners to ensure that the transactions are in the clients’ best interest.

Additionally, they may also verify that customer accounts are managed properly, procedures are followed correctly, and employees are adequately trained and educated. Now that you understand what we mean by “OSJ/large enterprise,” you’ll be able to see how selecting the right one can help you serve your wealth management clients better while avoiding industry pitfalls.

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The Potential To Grow Your Business Without Taking On Overhead

As an independent financial firm, you know the importance of managing overhead costs. But what if there were ways to grow your business without adding extra duties or staff? Working with an OSJ/Large Enterprise can provide the support and resources you need to do just that. 

This can mean, for instance, gaining access to enhanced customer service systems and marketing platforms without having to invest in them yourself. That, in turn, can free up your time and energy for other tasks related to running your business. It can also help to keep you ahead of industry changes. As a result, you don’t have to worry about developing new protocols on your own.

The world of finance is constantly changing, so staying compliant is never a one-and-done job. When working with a large enterprise, however, all your compliance oversight tasks are handled by experienced professionals with the training and expertise necessary for keeping you in step with the necessary regulatory requirements. 

OSJ/Large Enterprises tend to have more access to firm capital than smaller firms, as well. This allows them to connect financial professionals with merger and acquisition opportunities that may not be feasible for them otherwise.

Why a Family Environment Means You Don’t Have To Go It Alone

When you’re an independent financial firm, it can be easy to feel like you’re on your own. That’s where another aspect of the beauty of working with a well-selected large enterprise comes into play. At Evolution Financial Advisors, for example, we take pride in cultivating a family feel in a non-competitive environment where your peers are not your rivals.

This means that you don’t have to worry about feeling isolated. If you work with us, your expanded team has got your back. In fact, one of the biggest benefits of working with an OSJ can be access to a much wider network: We encourage our financial professionals to network with an eye toward helping one another with referrals and such when appropriate. 

Another advantage of working in a family environment is the experienced support you can receive from our partners and personnel. We’ve been in the very same trenches you inhabit (and we remember them well). That’s why our seasoned, personalized support can potentially help you stay ahead in the industry.

Leverage Human, Personalized, and Friendly Customer Service

financial professionals

Personalized customer service has always been important to us—because it’s important to you. It’s not enough for a large enterprise to offer generic solutions that don’t take into account their individual needs. That’s why neither you nor your clients are ever just a number to us. 

When it comes to something as important as asset management or making decisions involving clients’ financial future, few people prefer automation over high-touch services. We don’t even like it much when we’re off the clock, patronizing businesses in other industries, ourselves. 

It screams “your wallet’s all we care about” and it’s a bad look, to say the least. Clearly, it’s something no financial firm looking to attract new clients and keep existing ones wants to adopt, either. That’s why, when we welcome affiliates into our network, we mean the “family” part. 

Your firm stops being isolated the minute we start working together. From that moment on, you’ve got the backup you need on a far larger variety of products and services than you could probably provide on your own. Technical resources are only the tip of the long-term iceberg, however. 

You might say that we, meaning our staff, come along with the deal. Again, signing on with us means allying with a team that’s walked in entrepreneurial shoes very similar to your own. It can mean recommendations from neighbor affiliates in other niches (and, if all goes well, vice versa). 
Contact us to see how profitable working with an OSJ can be.

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Victoria Bach

More about the author: Victoria Bach

As president of a super OSJ branch of Securities America, Vikkie works with advisors interested in joining the firm and maintains close relationships with current advisors. Her passion is workshopping ideas to help them grow their businesses.