Andrew Welsch

Robert Peyreigne was hired to fill the role after Michael Armstrong departed Jefferies for RBC earlier this year.

The regional firm ups its recruiting momentum with two wirehouse advisers.

The new hires come from RBC, UBS and First Republic.

It's the most important service an adviser can provide, experts say.

It's gotten a lot harder, but not impossible to cut through the digital noise and grab clients' attention, an expert says.

Advisers say clients have become much more hesitant about making new investments.

The three recruits joined the independent firm from Wells Fargo and Edward Jones.

The advisers made the move in the wake of new regulatory guidance which takes aim at recruiting deals.

Two industry veterans joined the fast growing regional brokerage firm.

"There are ways to potentially be cute with it. You could potentially cut out retirement business from the back-end bonuses," says an ex-Merrill Lynch executive who works in the independent space. "Cute doesn't usually work when it comes to regulators."

How Ronald Kruszewski is working to make the regional BD into an industry contender.

The decision is effective immediately and was made within hours of the Department of Labor issuing new regulatory guidance on the fiduciary rule's implications.

That extra back-end comp "can create acute conflicts of interest," the Department of Labor says in newly provided regulatory guidance.

Morgan Stanley and RBC lose two recruits to the regional firm.

"We fully expect to offer a range of options to help our clients," CEO Paul Reilly said.

Unlike its rival, Morgan will keep commission-based retirement accounts under the new regulation's best interest contract exemption.

CEO Jim Cracchiolo said the firm will still offer variety on its platform, but that it needs to make sure products are "appropriate for the client."

Client assets for the firm's advisory business hit a record high.

A new pilot program will test whether clients will be drawn to a voice-controlled technology the retailer's customers know as Alexa.

One recruit started in the industry more than two decades ago.