Matt Ackermann

In a continued push to reform regulation for advisors, five independent financial firms have joined the Financial Services Institute.

Brown Advisory, a Baltimore-based independent investment management firm, hired Christopher Bartlett as a partner in its Baltimore office.

A team of six financial advisors have left Prudential to form Capstone Affluent Strategies, an independent wealth manager that has partnered with LPL Financial.

The idea of an advisory council leaves many advisors apprehensive, but to generate new ideas, it is critical to speak with a group of clients and prospects on a regular basis to find out what's wrong (and what's right) about your practice.

With most financial advisors mired in "analysis paralysis," adding new business can be difficult. Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet to add clients and assets, but Peter Montoya offered some essential methods to develop relationships and assets.

Most financial advisors don't spend enough time on the two most critical tasks to help them grow their business: rainmaking and client interaction.

Stanzak, the principal and owner of Financial Empowerment, in Bloomington, Minn., will begin her term on Jan. 1, 2014, when she succeeds Michael Branham, FPA's 2013 president.

CFO4LIFE, a Coppell, Texax, financial planning firm with more than $450 million in assets, announced Thursday it is departing from LPL Financial to become an RIA.

In an effort to bolster its recruiting with financial institution, Securities America announced Thursday it has hired William J. Lavender as regional director of financial institutions.

FSC Securities Corp., an Atlanta-based broker-dealer, announced that Eric Burton and Ron Whittingham and their practice, Megent Financial, have joined FSC from LPL Financial.

Omyen, which is based in Westwood, Mass., specializes in developing technologies for comprehensive financial planning and client education. The technology will be added to the FPA Practitioner Resource Guide, which is a directory of solutions and benefits to help FPA members build their business.

Delaware Valley, which is based in King of Prussia, Pa., has 24 advisors and $500 million in client assets under management.

Radnor Capital Management LLC of Wayne, Pa., has relaunched as an independent investment advisory firm using Dynasty Financial's open-architecture platform of wealth management services and technology.

The three practices, which have a combined $673 million in assets under management, are now among the more than 540 practices nationally with the independent brokerage arm of Wells Fargo & Co.

Lawson/Wincester Wealth Management is an independent firm in Chattanooga, Tenn., led by Matt Lawson and William F. Winchester, The team also is acquiring the existing practice of Raymond James Financial Services advisor John Goodson in Wincester, Tenn.

Despite a rocky economic environment, affluent pre-retirees are more optimistic about the future, but remain wary of credit card companies and large banks.

JHS Capital Advisors, a Tampa, Fla., registered investment advisor, announced Monday that it has hired Tim Forsman as a senior vice president of fixed income investments.

Seventy-three percent of annuity owners and 17% of non-owners agreed that annuities are an important part of a retirement strategy, compared to 55% and 8%, respectively a year earlier, according to the survey of investors and financial advisors released at the IRI 2012 Annual Meeting,

Robert Ceccarelli and John Hursh collectively manage more than $148 million in assets and produce nearly $1 million in revenue. They will join Ameriprise's employee advisor channel and be located in the New Haven, Conn.

The transaction, which is expected to close by the end of this year, will results in a combined retirement businesses with approximately $120 billion in assets under management and 3 million participants.