Mr. Gladstone: Shochet was founded in 1980 by a gentleman by the name of Marvin Shochet. It was really a mom-and-pop operation, his background was from Shearson and Loeb Rhodes before that. And the concept, which still holds true today, is to provide full-service discount financial services. Full service today has a little different meaning from 20 years ago. At that time discounting was of course less common. Today you really have full-service wire houses and you have deep discounters and online traders. At Shochet you have six offices with about 60 brokers. The average age in the industry is probably 20 plus years so that the experience level delivered to our clients is very high. So the client gets a combination of what a wire house or a full-service firm would have at discounted prices. The advantage is that in today's uncertain investing environment, clients are looking for someone experienced to talk to. Also when you really analyze the deep discounters the amount of savings they get can be quickly compromised by the execution that they get. So then we try and give very good execution and also service. For that full service you are paying a good price. We also provide products such as fixed income, mutual funds, financial planning services, annuities and life and health insurance. So we really have a full spectrum of products. Shochet Financial Services Group, our new division, consults our clients in tandem with a CPA or a trusts and estates attorney to address the client's entire financial picture. The other unique aspect of Shochet is that the offices are all very accessible. Usually they are located in ground floor shopping centers next to a Publix. Down here in Florida what that has grown to be is an investment club where our clients come in and socialize and enjoy each other's company and at the same time discuss ideas. Most of the transactions right now are unsolicited. So a lot of these ideas are actually generated by the clients talking to themselves and schmoozing daily. At any one time for example in Hallandale, which is the oldest office, we may have 15 or 20 of our clients sitting in a room watching CNBC, getting up to punch the Quotron machine and kind of schmoozing and socializing. So it is that kind of atmosphere. It is a throwback to what the business was many years ago. So although we have got the new technology in place, we still very much value the close tie with our clients in that they feel welcome to come into our offices, have a cup of coffee and a bagel and take their time about making decisions that they have for the day.
Tickers included in this excerpt: SHOC
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