Ann Marsh

The CFP Board extended a broad amnesty to hundreds of advisors who had been breaking its rules by calling themselves fee-only on the board’s website. The surprise move prompted calls for the board to reconsider and possibly rescind recent sanctions of other CFP holders for similar transgressions.

The CFP Board’s strategy of punishing some certificate holders over compensation disclosure issues in what critics charge is an arbitrary manner threatens the future of the CFP designation, according to one of the early leaders of the board who also chaired its disciplinary commission.

Exclusive: Without any notice, ‘fee-only’ is replaced with ‘none provided’ on CFP holders’ profiles.

Exclusive: Widespread abuse of the term raises question of a disciplinary double-standard.

At a time when recruiting is down across the independent broker-dealer space, Cetera Financial Group has added 247 net new advisors nationwide between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2013.

Exclusive: Confusion over compensation disclosure again cited; board insists process is 'consistent, fair, credible.'

Former CFP Board Chairman Alan Goldfarb was the first CFP holder ever to be publicly sanctioned for a compensation disclosure violation, the board has confirmed – despite its assertion that he was not treated differently than other CFP holders.

A lawsuit brought by husband-and-wife planners in Florida against the CFP Board has brought the federal court system into the debate over “fee-only” labeling and consequences – a topic that the industry has been struggling to define.

Raymond James picked up a $500 Million team from Morgan Stanley and a Jefferies advisor with $100 million in assets.

Amid growing industry debate over compensation disclosure, the FPA has changed the compensation disclosure options on its website.

Strategic marketing customized for female clients helped one longtime planner build her own practice up to $100 million in AUM.

LPL is shuttering NestWise, the once-hyped unit that was launched just last year to serve less affluent customers, and has laid off 40 NestWise employees.

To do so, the country’s largest independent broker dealer expects to have a portal up and running, probably under the name AdvisorHarmony, as early as next year that will allow advisors to sift through potential partners on their own.

John Hancock Financial Network has rebranded under the name Signator Investors, as a sign to advisors of its commitment to grow the advisory side of its business.

A spike in the proportion of RIA-to-RIA deals in the first half of this year may signify that the advisory field is starting to come into its own.

Independent wealth management firm Banyan Partners is nearly doubling its assets under management to $4 billion by acquiring two firms simultaneously.

When are you most efficient in the day? Figure it out -- and then organize your daily time management strategy with your own circadian rhythms in mind.

Are you paying enough attention to your top 20 clients? Here are some tips to help you retain your best clients.

Two of the most influential organizations in the world of independent planners, the CFP Board and NAPFA, do not agree on the definition of one of the most hot-button terms in the profession: fee-only.

LPL Financial wants its advisors to know that it has heard their complaints and is doing something about them.