Matt Ackermann

“If you want to make a client uncomfortable, you should ask them for a referral,” Thomas Fross, the CEO of Platinum Advisor Strategies, said at the Platinum Top Producers Boot Camp.

With the new office, the Ric Edelman-owned wealth management firm now has 32 offices in 13 states.

This year, Duran said the company plans to aggressively expand its business model, and its brand -- aiming to look more like Starbucks and less like rivals HighTower and Dynasty Financial.

As advisors wait to see whether they'll be regulated by the SEC or FINRA, the SEC announced that its enforcement director, Robert Khuzami, will leave the agency.

Securities America has completed its second broker-dealer transition in the past 30 days and added 30 advisors in Washington, Iowa.

Independent Financial Partners, a Tampa, Fla., based registered investment advisory firm, has launched IFP Insurance Group.

Raymond James Financial Services, the company’s independent broker-dealer, announced Monday it has added a mother-daughter team in Bethesda, Md., with $200 million in assets.

Envestnet-Tamarac, a Chicago-based provider of integrated web-based portfolio and client management software for independent advisors, has entered into a strategic alliance with Salentica Inc., a provider of client relationship management and client reporting technology solutions for wealth managers

The San Diego-based firm plans to open three new offices in “key” California markets over the next 12 to 18 months.

Genworth Financial Wealth Management, a unit of Genworth Financial, hired Daniel Courtney to the newly created position of president of the asset management division.

Assets managed by multiple family offices increased 68% between 2007 and 2011 to $777.3 billion, according to Cerulli Associates, a Boston-based global research firm.

Woodbury Financial brings approximately 1,400 advisors and $25 billion in assets under management to the group’s network, which includes FSC Securities Corp., Royal Alliance Associates and SagePoint Financial.

To streamline document processing, LPL Financial has introduced DocuSign’s eSignature solution for all of its advisors.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary L. Schapiro will step down on Dec. 14, the commission announced Monday.

J.W. Cole Financial, a Tampa, Fla., based independent broker-dealer, announced Monday that it plans to acquire Financial Advisers of America.

The Washington, D.C., based group announced Thursday it added Blaine F. Aikin, Arthur B. Laby, and Thomas C. Nelson to its board.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has filed 734 enforcement actions in the past year, one shy of last year’s record of 735, with a focus on investment advisors.

The organization will becgin a national search for the next CEO/executive director spearheaded by a search committee that was formed after receiving Turf’s letter in early October.

First Republic will integrate Luminous Capital Holdings into First Republic Investment Management.

TD Ameritrade Institutional drew a record 441 breakaway brokers to its platform for independent registered investment advisors in fiscal 2012, a 27% increase from a year earlier.