After more than four years with LPL Financial, veteran independent broker-dealer marketing executive Marissa Fox Foley joined First Allied Securities in a newly created role as senior managing director of marketing.
First Allied is one of the industrys best kept secrets, Fox-Foley said in an interview. This is an opportunity to really help amplify [its] brand identity and really take it to market in a bigger and more compelling way.
In moving to the smaller firm, Fox-Foley, who left LPL in 2012, will become both smaller and bigger. As the executive vice president of advisor marketing at LPL, her work impacted 13,300 advisors in the industrys largest independent broker dealer. But her reach was limited to that role. At First Allied, which has 1,250 advisors, Fox-Foley said she will oversee all corporate communications, inclusive of the firms internal communications, brand and marketing communications, events operations as well as marketing to advisors.
This is where my passionate love for marketing for financial advisors really comes into play here, Fox-Foley said. Absolutely one of the most satisfying experiences I had at LPL was having the opportunity to build out the advisor platform.
She also will oversee the firms Womens Impact Network or WIN, launched last July, a personal and professional networking group for the companys more than 100 women planners.
Specifically, Fox-Foley, who started at First Alliled last month, said she was attracted to the idea of working for a company that has a demonstrated track record of success in helping advisors to grow their practices.
I think this is something that many firms struggle with, quite frankly, she said. It requires a certain amount of time and First Allied has developed a focused approach that works consistently well year over year.
Advisors who were fully engaged in First Allied's development program
between 2008 and 2011 grew their gross dealer concessions and assets under management 66% more than those who did not participate in the program during that same period, according to Fox-Foley. In addition, she added, First Allied advisors consistently rank highly in leading average production per representative.
In her new position, Fox-Foley, who has 18 years experience in marketing and brand strategy, will report directly to Robert Holcomb, president of First Allied Wealth Management. At LPL, the work by her team won a 2012 Digital Marketer of the Year by Bloomberg / Brand New Media.
Marissa brings the best of both worlds to our company: a focus on personalized service for each advisory practice, combined with a big picture view on how to most effectively build and align marketing strategy at the corporate level, Holcomb said in a statement. The continued expansion of our firm and the advisor businesses we support underpins our First in Growth message to the marketplace. Marissa will play an integral role in shaping and carrying this message forward.
Before joining LPL, Fox-Foley was a vice president at New York City-based Wechsler Ross & Partners, a leading marketing agency that creates brand identity, digital media marketing communications and promotional campaigns for investment management firms. She holds a BA from Harvard University, and an MBA from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California.
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