Quarterly report pursuant to sections 13 or 15(d)

Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

v2.3.0.11
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2011
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation
1.
Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

Description of Business

Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc. (the “Company”) is a holding company.  Its wholly-owned principal operating subsidiaries are Ladenburg Thalmann & Co. Inc. (“Ladenburg”), Investacorp, Inc. (collectively with related companies, “Investacorp”), Triad Advisors, Inc. (“Triad”), Ladenburg Thalmann Asset Management Inc. (“LTAM”) and Premier Trust, Inc. (“Premier”).
 
Ladenburg is a full service registered broker-dealer that has been a member of the New York Stock Exchange since 1879. Broker-dealer activities include sales and trading and investment banking. Ladenburg provides its services principally for middle market and emerging growth companies and high net worth individuals through a coordinated effort among corporate finance, capital markets, brokerage and trading professionals.
 
Investacorp and Triad are registered broker-dealers and investment advisors that have been serving the independent financial advisor community since 1978 and 1998, respectively. Investacorp’s and Triad’s independent financial advisors primarily serve retail clients. Investacorp and Triad derive revenue from advisory fees and commissions, primarily from the sale of mutual funds, variable annuity products and other financial products and services.
 
LTAM is a registered investment advisor. It offers various asset management products utilized by Ladenburg and Premier’s clients, as well as clients of Investacorp’s and Triad’s financial advisors.
 
Premier, acquired on September 1, 2010, is a Nevada trust company formed in 2001.  Premier provides wealth management services, including trust administration of personal and retirement accounts, estate and financial planning and custody services. Pro forma results of operations as if Premier was acquired as of January 1, 2010 are not presented because they are not material.
 
Ladenburg, Investacorp and Triad customer transactions are cleared through a single clearing broker on a fully-disclosed basis.  Each of Ladenburg, Investacorp and Triad is subject to regulation by, among others, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Basis of Presentation

The condensed consolidated financial statements are unaudited and have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) for interim financial information and with the instructions to Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X.  In the opinion of management, the interim data includes all adjustments, consisting of normal recurring adjustments, necessary for a fair statement of the results for the periods presented.  Because of the nature of the Company’s business, interim period results may not be indicative of full year or future results.
 
The unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements do not include all information and notes required in annual audited financial statements in conformity with GAAP. The statement of financial condition at December 31, 2010 has been derived from the audited financial statements at that date, but does not include all of the information and notes required by GAAP for complete financial statement presentation. Please refer to the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010, filed with the SEC, for additional disclosures and a description of accounting policies.
 
Certain prior year items have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation.  All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated.
 
The Company has evaluated all subsequent events through the date the financial statements were issued.