In its first move out of the Washington, DC, area, RIA Edelman Financial Services has opened six offices in New York and New Jersey.

If these offices fare well over the next few months, EFS chief Ric Edelman says the firm could establish additional offices in  other major US markets next year.

"Investors and consumers need help more than ever, and there are too few opportunities for them to get the independent, objective advice they need," says Mr Edelman, who is a syndicated radio host. "Over the past two years, we have received thousands of phone calls and emails from people seeking help from throughout the New York metro area, and I am pleased to be able to respond to their needs."

Houston-based Sanders Morris Harris owns more than three quarters of EFS, which is its biggest brokerage-service client. But Mr Edelman is Sanders' largest shareholder - and, since this past spring, its president.

EFS, which targets people with between $50,000 and $1 million to invest, got to work setting up shop in and around the Big Apple about a year ago - and quickly found that market conditions favored the move. 

"This has been an outstanding period to be expanding," says Mr Edelman. "For one thing, investors are feeling shell-shocked: they realize they've been taking greater risk with their investments than they thought and they realize that their current advisors aren't as talented as they'd hoped. They're scared, confused and looking for help."

In addition to increased consumer demand for a middle-market financial planner and advisory like EFS, Mr Edelman points to dislocation in the financial-service industry as an aid to recruitment. "Wall Street is in a tizzy and there's turmoil in the ranks of advisors." As a result, fee-based advisors are turning from large transactional shops to firms with more scope for "the kind of advice and planning that builds life-time relationships."

Finally, EFS' move into the New York area has been helped along by a general decline in property prices. "Real estate is pretty cheap right now," says Mr Edelman. "This has helped us get into some really nice office space."

EFS' New York offices are in Manhattan, Staten Island, Garden City and White Plains; its New Jersey offices are in Saddle Brook and Short Hills. The firm, which has long established offices in Fairfax and Alexandria in Virgina, and in Bethesda, Md., is looking to set up in Brooklyn as well. 

EFS is eying imminent moves into other big markets - specifically Chicago, Detriot, San Francisco and Miami - but Mr Edelman says the firm wants to gauge the performance of its newest offices first.

So far EFS has nine advisors in the six offices it just opened, which bring its nine-office total to around 40 advisors who manages around $4 billion for approximately 11,000 clients.