Donald Jay Korn

“We see RIAs increasing market share by 0.5% to 1% a year,” said Scott Smith, an associate director at Cerulli. “as the full-service firms experience an erosive but not a catastrophic decline.”

The Social Security Administration announced a 1.7% cost-of-living adjustment for 2013. That adjustment will also cause an increase in the maximum amount of earnings subject to Social Security tax.

Go West (and go soon) for Dynasty Trusts. The top states for these products are South Dakota, Alaska, Nevada.

Cambridge Wealth Counsel has been called a top wealth management firm, but this Atlanta-based RIA's story is certainly a bottoms-up tale.

Main Street Americans may not spend much time fending off solicitations from giant advisory firms but they certainly stroll through shopping malls. In a few upscale centers, they’ll find an America’s Retirement Store, where they’ll be welcome.

About 15% of affluent investors are considering a move within the next month. The most likely landing spot is Vanguard, followed by Fidelity and USAA, according to a new monthly survey by Phoenix Marketing International.

"In five years," Brian Holmes of Los Angeles-based Signature Estate and Investment Advisors predicted, "I expect that we'll manage more than $5 billion, with revenues over $30 million."

For large U.S. companies and their employees, health care premiums continue to rise, albeit slowly. Meanwhile, most employers are reevaluating their retiree health insurance strategies, planning more emphasis on the individual rather than the group market.

Ownership of 401(k)-type plans among families participating in an employer's retirement plan more than doubled, from 31.6% in 1992 to 79.5% in 2007. Three years later, during the financial crisis, 401(k) ownership continued to increase.

Fort Pitt Capital Group has a split personality. As an RIA, the Pittsburgh firm has $1.2 billion under management. As a fund provider, its Fort Pitt Capital Total Return Fund is 10 years old, with a five-star Morningstar rating for 10-year performance.

In an effort to give smaller RIAs access to a broader array of services, Ron Carson has launched Carson Institutional Advisory. The new platform includes a succession planning strategy as an added attraction.

When it comes to practice management, experienced advisors want to learn more about three subjects: engaging centers of influence, pricing, and measuring and building client loyalty. At least, that's what Genworth Financial Wealth Management has heard from advisors attending its Mastery practice management workshops for independent advisors

For a startup firm, attracting $150 million in assets under management within nine months is impressive. The entire story, though, of PWM Advisory Group goes back more than a decade.

"We provide all the tools a broker needs to thrive," said Russell Gebhard, president of Sovereign Investment Group in Houston."If the advisor is successful, it's more than likely the clients will be, too."

"A lot of advisors say they have a team," said Jeff Fishman, who heads JSF Financial in Los Angeles. "When you talk to them, you find out they have a bunch of people who came from wirehouses. We have a real team: people from different backgrounds who play different roles."

Tampa-based JHS Capital Advisors has announced three new hires. Katie White comes from Wells Fargo, Tim Forsman from Sterne Agee, and Matthew Lovett from World Equity Group.

As the advisory universe ages, it's inevitable that more advisors will retire, become disabled, or die. Just as inevitable, there will be more sales of interests in advisory practices or entire practices. But just how valuable will those practices be, with most clients drawing down rather than building up the assets that advisors manage?

A new "Going Independent" solution package, introduced this week, combines compliance and practice aid to help advisors who want to own their own wealth management shop.

To attract more independent advisors, HighTower has introduced two new options, the HighTower Network and the HighTower Alliance. Elliott Weissbluth, the company's CEO, said by adding these channels, HighTower will be able to attract advisors who prefer to continue to own their own practices rather than joining a partnership.

Advisors who don't feel like wading through reports on 9,000 hedge funds may feel more comfortable scanning information on about 40, especially if those funds have been expertly screened. Envestnet has announced a hedge fund research alliance with Fund Evaluation Group.