Securities America in the News

February 21, 2012 | Press Releases

Securities America Signs Enterprise License Agreement with ReferralPod

Advisors, institutions get free access to cloud-based system to track, measure referrals



LA VISTA, Neb. Feb. 21, 2012 Independent broker-dealer Securities America has signed an enterprise-wide licensing agreement that will give all its advisors and financial institution partners free access to the cloud-based ReferralPod system created by SuccessQuest International Inc.



“Referrals are the lifeblood of an advisor practice or financial institution investment program,” said Gregg Johnson, senior vice president of branch office development and acquisitions at Securities America. “ReferralPod will be a value-add for advisors and financial institutions that affiliate with Securities America. Users will have a competitive advantage in that they can track referral practices to determine what works best and report on referral results. We highly believe ReferralPod to be one of the best of its kind in our industry, which is why we’ve chosen to provide this system to all of our advisors at no additional cost.”



With ReferralPod, financial advisors and branch managers can leverage external referrals through their network of centers of influence (accountants, advisors, real estate agents), and at the same time leverage referrals within their own company, branch or department,” said SuccessQuest CEO Nathan Bergeland.



“It’s easy to set up and track an unlimited number of referral networks (pods) of unlimited size with the same system and with one login,” he said. “With the Referral Revenue Calculator, financial institutions can see how their referrals directly impact the bottom line. And because ReferralPod is web-based, there’s no software to purchase or upgrade.”Bergeland, a Securities America branch manager, co-founded SuccessQuest with Ray Gauthier, a former technology executive with one of Canada’s largest banks, and Kirk Lowe, a leading branding and marketing consultant specializing in financial services. The company is based on Bergeland’s philosophy, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” Instead of looking outside-the-box for new ideas and strategies, SuccessQuest’s founders believe inside-the-box thinking – taking what’s already working and doing it better and efficiently – will help financial institutions and professionals grow.



About Securities America

Headquartered in La Vista, Neb., Securities America Inc. is the nation’s eighth largest independent broker-dealer (as ranked by Financial Planning magazine, June 2012, based on 2011 total revenue). For more than 25 years, Securities America’s mission has been to foster the success of financial professionals so they can provide quality, objective counsel and services to their clients. Advisors benefit from the firm’s industry-leading programs in practice management, advisory services and retirement income distribution, supported by state-of-the-art technology. Founded in 1993, Securities America Advisors Inc. is an SEC-Registered Investment Advisory firm that offers investment management, financial advice and financial planning through a national network of independent financial advisors. Securities America Financial Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (NYSE MKT: LTS). Securities America received the inaugural Thought Leadership Award from the Retirement Income Industry Association in March 2011. Additional information is available at  www.securitiesamerica.com.