Ann Marsh

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.”

The nation’s largest independent broker-dealer was honored for proving outstanding support to its financial advisors.

Launched in October, Cetera’s Mutual Funds/Exchange Traded Funds Advisory program allows advisors to assemble portfolios of investments from three diverse strategists in a single customer account.

Despite a 10% drop in the total number of broker-dealers in the past five years, the total number of reps industrywide has fallen a correspondingly negligible amount.

The group of three advisors said changes at the bank forced their hand.

The aim is to maintain consistency in imposing sanctions for similar offenses.

According to a Schwab study, 45% of independent advisors are bullish about the market in the six months. However, a second, first-time survey of 504 high-net-worth investors found that only 29% are bullish about the market.

To become the industry’s SRO, FINRA estimates it will cost roughly 15 times less in start-up costs than estimates in a study commissioned by the Financial Planning Coalition, which includes CFP Board, FPA and NAPFA.

“I think this would absolutely impact all of our small business owners,” said Karen Nystrom, manager of public policy and advocacy with NAPFA. “We agree that more oversight is needed but where we differ is the most cost effective way to get there.”

In a move expected to draw the ire of some advisors, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-Ala) introduced legislation in the house Wednesday that could clear the way for FINRA to become the self-regulatory organization for retail investment advisors.

The prospect of rising interest rates, though not anticipated for the near future, has many bond holders wringing their hands, but a fixed income strategist at Schwab offered strategies planners can use to avoid “bondageddon” and stay in the bond market, while protecting their clients’ assets.

Securities America, and other firms of varying sizes, are offering comprehensive support programs to lure new advisors, many of whom are trading commission-based firms for independence.

A former top producer with Edward Jones, John Lindsey has begun the process of migrating to a fee-based business by partnering with Securities America branch office Cooper McManus, an RIA with more than 40 advisors.

Schwab report finds spike in total M&A activity in the RIA sector for the first quarter, but nearly half of the $23.95 billion in total assets under management transacted across 17 deals through March 31 came from one deal.

“While there used to be benefit and value in being a public company, there no longer is,” says Edelman, a member of the Financial Advisor Hall of Fame.

Genworth Financial Wealth Management launched a program offering its advisors access to capital to fund acquisitions and retirement.