Ann Marsh

Hundreds of delinquent medium-sized RIAs must register with their respective states by today’s SEC deadline or face the prospect of being de-registered as early as Sept. 1.

Hundreds of medium-size RIAs are procrastinating and face the specter of de-registration by the SEC if they do not file for state registration by Thursday.

Gurudeo “Buddy” Persaud believed the earth’s gravitational forces impacts stock prices and that, under the influence of the moon, people tend to feel more dejected and sell off securities. In return, the SEC charged him with fraud.

The CFP Board permanently revoked the right of William B. Smith of Grafton, Mass., to use the CFP designation after investigating allegations that he fraudulently used $1.2 million in client’s money for his own benefit and moved $25,000 from another client to his own account.

James E. Putman, the founder and former CEO of an Appleton, Wis., investment firm, was disciplined by the CFP Board for allegedly accepting $1.24 million in kickbacks for steering clients’ money into dubious investments.

Daniel J. Trolaro, a former planner and insurance agent from East Hanover, N.J., allegedly defrauded nine clients out of a total of $1.9 million, which he then used to gamble online, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.

The CFP Board disciplined 24 planners in its most recent thrice-yearly review of disciplinary or ethics allegations. In 13 cases, planners lost their rights to use the CFP designation permanently. Six other planners received suspensions for varying lengths of time, and five received letters of admonition.

“There are so many wonderful financial planners but so few of them do business financial planning,” says Karl Frank, a planner and founder of A&I Financial Services in Englewood, Colo., who specializes in entrepreneurial clients.

Landing entrepreneurs and small business owners as clients can be a great way to boost your assets under management, but advisors need to understand their unique needs and challenges in order to provide the best possible service. Here’s what advisors need to know to attract and retain these complex clients.

If personal financial planning is complex, then advising entrepreneurial clients is orders of magnitude more so. Planner Karl Frank in Englewood, Colo., who specializes in clients who are small business owners, relies on a guiding principle for himself and for this class of clients.

When working with entrepreneurial clients, planner Seth Streeter, co-founder of Mission Wealth Management in Santa Barbara, Calif., finds that most are handcuffed to their companies and stuck working in their businesses and not on them.

Advising entrepreneurial clients is rarely easy work for planners, especially when it comes to dealing with warring members of a family owned business.

“It’s who, what, why, where, when and how much,” says Nick Niemann, an Omaha, Neb., attorney wo has worked with hundreds of financial planners and their entrepreneurial clients.

Genworth Wealth Management has created a proprietary six-step process to help its advisors meet the challenges of a higher level of client service.

After more than two decades urging the SEC to increase regulatory oversight of financial advisors, Barbara Roper stunned many on both sides of the debate by declaring herself open to the prospect of regulation coming from a self regulatory organization, such as FINRA.

More and more planners need to start taking advantage of this powerful medium, says social media expert Amy McIlwain, but how?

“I feel like a therapist sometimes,” says Patricia Barrett, one of the five speakers on the Remember the Alimony panel of divorce experts at the Women Advisors Forum in Dallas. “I took mediation training at the University of Houston School of Law. They really emphasized listening, looping back and repeating back to people."

Citing enhanced technologies and retirement planning support for its advisors, National Planning Holdings announced first quarter 2012 sales and revenue gains of 15.7% and 8% respectively compared to a year earlier.

Unforeseen, costly emergencies and expenses are a given in every life. Eleanor Blayney, CFB Board's consumer advocate said: "It's just as important to protect our finances – or indeed anything we value – from loss, as it is to grow our wealth."

FINRA is substantially underestimating the costs to set up a self-regulatory organization for investment advisors, according to a review by an outside consulting firm. In response, FINRA says the review should be viewed with “skepticism and amusement.”