May 1 – Insurer-owned broker-dealers face a range of issues—and risk sub-optimal results—when their parent companies seek economies of scale. This drive has notable implications for managing, using, and governing data, which is central to operating advice-driven businesses like broker-dealers. The regulatory landscape also factors in.

Understanding unique broker-dealer needs may be an important counterweight to optimization efforts which focus on the enterprise to the detriment of the unique data, managerial, and governance needs of the broker-dealer units.

This brief explores issues in key areas like ease of doing business, the distinctive needs of these specialized “utility” organizations, and the data management that is foundational to their effective operation.