BROKERAGE ORGANIC GROWTH SLOWING, STUDY SAYS:

The eight leading brokerage firms saw only an 8 percent growth in organic revenue in the fourth quarter of 2003, according to a year-end survey by WFG Capital Advisors, an insurance industry investment banking firm. Organic growth trended further downward in each quarter of 2003, according WFG Managing Principal Steven Wevodau, from 13.9 percent in the first quarter down to the fourth quarter’s 8 percent. The analysis includes the international brokerage market, according to Rob Lieblein, another managing principal of WFG.