It's 4 p.m. and the market just closed. You are in a great mood because you just had one of the best production days of your career. This morning you met with a client and after a two-hour meeting you both agreed that he should invest $300,000 in an annuity. You jumped through all the hoops the compliance department demanded, including the mountain of paperwork and signatures.

The client clearly understands why he is liquidating his aggressive growth mutual fund to purchase the annuity. He purchased that mutual fund three years ago when his financial situation was very different. He has a clear understanding of what was paid in commissions to purchase both products and any early termination penalties. He has since had many changes in his life and wants something more conservative with less volatility.

After meeting with you the first time a week ago, he went home and did his own research on the annuity you suggested. This morning, he had more questions. He truly wants to understand all the details about it.

He seemed excited to learn about annuities and wondered aloud why nobody had mentioned them before. You explained that all advisors are a little different in their approach but based on his current situation, you feel an annuity would be his best move. You also feel good because you were the first advisor who was able to get him to truly open up and show his overall financial situation. As you know, many clients keep financial secrets, but this client finally opened up.

So now you're trying to wrap up your day before taking your family out for a nice dinner, and the phone rings. It's Harry Smith, the compliance officer for your region. You know this won't be good—it never is when he calls. Like other advisors in your region, you have had your share of run-ins with him. Harry has never worked on commission. After speaking with him a number of times, you have concluded that he is truly lacking in his understanding of financial planning. But some middle manager made him the compliance officer.

Harry informs you that he just got off the phone with the client and the trade for the annuity will not be run. He spoke to the client at length and went over (again) all the early termination fees and surrender charges, and reminded him how much was paid to originally purchase the mutual fund.

He explained to the client that he could just switch to a more conservative fund in the same family and not pay any fees. Even though you covered all of this with the client, and it was not what the client wanted, he now has become very suspicious and nervous. Anyone would be when a "compliance officer" calls them. To add insult to injury, Harry then proceeded to lecture you on how to do your job.

You are so angry you can't see straight. This compliance officer, who you feel doesn't really understand the business, has just cost you a small fortune. You know that calling your manager won't help because even when she has tried to help you in the past, little was done. At this point the client is suspicious and you have lost the hard-earned confidence he had in you, not to mention thousands in commission. In fact, there are three losers here: You, the client and the bank.

Few would argue that banks are more conservative than wirehouses or independent firms. Most bank brokerage programs are more conservative for the very reason illustrated in the scenario above: They are run by someone who thinks like a banker and has never sat in the broker seat.

My firm (Rummage Group), looks at the FINRA report of all advisors we help. We have not seen any trend of higher FINRA issues at either a bank or wirehouse program. Most of the managers we deal with have worked at several firms and at least two models. They have told us many times that banks, in general, tend to be much more conservative than other models—at least from a compliance standpoint.

Bank programs also tend to have high turnover and they wonder why. According to one senior manager with 25 years at a large regional bank, "It's as if compliance runs the place." He went on to say, "When I was with a wirehouse, they were never this conservative and rarely let the compliance department bust trades and call the clients without speaking to the advisor first."

To be sure, not all banks are equal. Some do not second-guess every decision an advisor makes. And it doesn't appear that these banks have any higher rate of client complaints.