Donald Jay Korn

J.P. Morgan Securities, the advisor-based financial advisory business of JPMorgan Chase, has opened an office in Philadelphia.

Charles Hart, who had been an independent advisor since 1982, has joined Ameriprise’s employee broker-dealer division. Hart, who managed $114 million in client assets, is now based Ameriprise's Plano, Texas, office.

A team led by veteran financial advisor John Lynch has moved from Wells Fargo Advisors to Raymond James Financial Services, the independent broker-dealer arm of Raymond James Financial.

Davidson Fixed Income Management (DFIM) has acquired SeaCap Investment Advisors, a fixed-income portfolio manager for institutional and individual clients. DFIM is part of Davidson Companies, the financial services holding company that is the parent of D.A. Davidson & Co., a broker-dealer.

In the wake of The Hartford’s recent decision to place its individual annuity business “into a runoff,” Edward Jones this week has stopped offering the firm’s annuities and has suspended sales of new life insurance policies and retirement plans pending the eventual resolution of the uncertainty surrounding these businesses.

Financial advisors John Waszolek and his son Eric Waszolek have joined Raymond James & Associates from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, where they managed $200 million in client assets and had more than $800,000 in annual production.

Oppenheimer & Co. has hired three experienced senior professionals to expand the capabilities of its Institutional Equity Derivatives Group’s options desk.

Paul Harvey has joined Stifel Nicolaus Weisel's European investment banking team as a managing director in the firm's London office, heading up its European technology practice.

Chicago-based brokerage and investment advisory firm David A. Noyes has hired an executive away from Fifth Third Bank to join the ranks of its wealth advisors as a vice president.

Cantor Fitzgerald has named two managing directors of sales for its Prime Services Group. Both John Fiore and Marc Young will be responsible for business development and origination for hedge fund clients. In a joint statement, the two newcomers expressed their hope to be part of a growth story at Cantor Prime Services because “the mid-market hedge fund space continues to be underserved by investment firms.”

Alexander Rorke has joined Louisville-based Hilliard Lyons as senior vice president and director of public finance.

Howard Sparkman, a 17-year veteran of Morgan Keegan, has joined Wunderlich Securities in Dallas. Wunderlich opened a Private Client Group office in Dallas last year headed by Murray (Pap) Roark, another former financial advisor with Morgan Keegan.

James N. Augustine, Jr. has joined Stifel Nicolaus as COO of its Institutional Group's Fixed Income Division. Augustine, who has been with Morgan Keegan and Bear Stearns, was previously head of the Fixed Income Department at Raymond James. He was named to that post last April.

As brokers and investors are all too aware by now, IRS Form 1099-B, on which brokerage transactions are reported, has a new look this year and advisors and clients are scrambling to makes sense of it.

Peter H. Sargent explains why he chose Janney. A 20-year veteran and top producer at Merrill, Sargent boasts $250 million in client assets.

Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott, says a diversified portfolio of dividend-paying stocks can help investors meet today’s expenses as well as those to come in the years ahead.

A rise in single Americans will likely result in more clients who will need someone to care for them.