First Allied streamlines outreach and support as it boosts recruiting drive. Independent broker-dealer First Allied Securities has formed a new national sales team to house its sales, business-development and practice-transition groups. And the San Diego-based subsidiary of Advanced Equities has hired industry veteran Scott Umstead to run it.

"As First Allied's National Sales Manager, Scott is charged with driving the organic growth of our existing business owners and leading the effort to create partnerships with some of the nation's best entrepreneurial financial advisors," says First Allied's CEO Keith Gregg. "Enabling successful entrepreneurs to grow their business is in the DNA of our organization."

Part of a push

Putting business development, sales and practice migration under one banner is part of a campaign at First Allied to boost growth "by attracting a select group of industry experts in key areas such as operations, strategic planning, business analysis, national sales and recruiting," according to a company press release.

To accelerate its expansion efforts, First Allied is putting its internal sales teams under nine regional directors -- four in sales support, five in recruiting -- who, with the head of the firm's transition team, will report to Umstead.

"Scott is a business-acceleration specialist with more than three decades of experience in the financial-service industry," says Gregg. "His superior leadership skills, in-depth business acumen and proven success in building, expanding and leading teams to rapid success made him the perfect candidate to fill this highly strategic position."

Umstead comes to First Allied from Canonsburg, Pa.-based Sweetwater Asset Management, where he was CEO. Before that he was head of Wachovia Securities' eastern U.S. and Latin American regions. He began his career as an advisor with Merrill Lynch in 1975.

Gregg, who joined First Allied from San Diego-based investment advisory Dunham & Associates last summer, was head of sales for Wachovia's independent-broker platform.

The 1,000 or so advisors affiliated with Chicago-based administer more than $30 billion in client assets. -FWR

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