OptionsXpress Holdings Inc.'s (OXPS) brokersXpress, a broker/dealer for registered investment advisers and independent brokers, plans to double the number of advisers who use its services over the next three to five years.

In an interview with Dow Jones Newswires, brokersXpress Chief Executive Barry Metzger says the unit, which works with 300 advisers, would like to boost that number to 600.

BrokersXpress typically targets advisers from independent broker/dealers such as LPL Financial Corp. and Securities America, a unit of Ameriprise Financial Corp. (AMP), who generate $250,000 to $500,000 in fees and commissions and specialize in trading options, though the firm does recruit some $1 million-producers.

Financial advisers in the $250,000-$500,000 range are generally more recruitable in recent years as wirehouses, or major brokerages, have been increasingly focused on adding higher producing brokers.

In such large entities, Metzger says, brokers must work with a large number of clients, albeit with more support staff, but advisers rarely get to devote the same amount of personal attention to their customers.

"The top advisers there have over 500 accounts, but if they come to manage their business with us, they can work with 200 accounts," he said.

Advisers at independent shops have the opportunity to collect higher payouts than wirehouse peers, though they miss out on collecting large recruiting bonuses offered by firms such as Bank of America Corp.'s (BAC) Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. Independent brokers also must handle other issues such as compliance and finding office space.

While major brokerages will always have prestige and brand recognition, Metzger says brokerXpress is "at the end of the day a technology sell."

In particular, brokersXpress, like its parent company, specializes in options trading, though the firm offers futures and other asset classes.

Although Metzger declined to provide specific metrics for the business, brokersXpress has attracted over 24,000 accounts and $1.4 billion in customer assets since its inception, according to its parent company's annual report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

OptionsXpress, along with its online brokerage peers, has been hurt by low interest rates over the past year, though the company has said it has hit a bottom in terms of low rates cutting into net interest income. The company, which reports second-quarter earnings next week, is likely to benefit from heavy trading volume from May 6's stock market "flash crash."

Shares of optionsXpress were up 2% at $15.13 in midmorning trading on a day when many financial stocks were strong.

-By Brett Philbin, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2173; brett.philbin@dowjones.com
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