Ruthie Ackerman

Unified Managed Accounts skyrocketed over 100% in the last year, and at double the rate of any other segment, but they are still only 6% of the $2 trillion industry.

“Volatility will create cheapness,” said Richard Hoey, chief economist, Bank of New York Mellon. “It’s a world of steel nerves. Investors and advisors will have to have a cool head, lean against the volatility, and realize when things are going too far in one direction or the other.”

In the last 18 to 24 months these proudcts have become increasingly available to the mass affluent because of a reduction in costs and an increase in efficiency, said AJ Harper, managing director of Lockwood Advisors, an affiliate of Pershing, in an interview at the Money Management Institute annual conference.

The future of the investment advisory industry depends on reducing the cost of doing business, said Mark Casady, Chairman and CEO of LPL Financial, in the opening keynote at the Money Management Institute’s 2011 annual convention, which kicked off on Wednesday in Boston.

We’ve all heard the statistics: Women still get paid far less than men and women’s work is undervalued by society. But a new survey released by The Penn Mutual Life Insurance Company on Friday reported something we may not have realized - women themselves are undervaluing their own work, with potentially devastating consequences.

Fidelity Investments announced that its ultra-high-net-worth program for independent RIAs has reached almost $2 billion in assets in just the first six months since its launch in October 2010.

Online investors are less bullish than they were in January as the anniversary of the “Flash Crash” draws near and renewed fears of market volatility surface, according to a survey by online broker TradeKing released on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Charles Schwab today released its latest Active Trader Sentiment Survey, which polled 653 individual traders and investors between March and April 2011, who trade at least 36 times per year, and found that 72% of those who are expecting a tax refund this year plan on investing at least some of it. Twenty-eight percent say they will put the entire refund into their investment portfolios.

Baird announced on Monday that it added a team of four to its Portland, Oregon wealth management office.

Regulatory reform was on the top of everyone’s minds at the Women Advisors Forum in New York City on Thursday.

The excitement in the room at the 10th Annual Closed-End Funds and Global ETFs Capital Link Forum in New York City on Wednesday was palpable.

Gen X investors are more disgruntled with their advisors than any other generation and they have reason to be: those with advisors saw growth in their portfolios in 2010, but much less than their self-directed peers.

Schwab announced that since it launched Schwab Advisor University in June, over 5,600 RIA employees from more than 2,500 firms participated in its online courses to help improve firm operations.

The SEC sent a “No Action” letter to the CFP Board stating RIAs, broker-dealers and their representatives could share information with the CFP Board relating to customer complaints, without fearing SEC enforcement action.

According to an SEI Quick Poll released Monday, over 90% of advisors say their clients rarely or only occasionally ask about how to minimize taxes on their investments, even though advisors can save clients over 3% through tax-management strategies.

The company's net income and revenue soared in the first quarter as the economy improved and investors moved off of the sidelines.

Wealthy women want three things from their financial advisors: honesty, trustworthiness, and transparency, according to “Wealthy Women Investors,” a Spectrem eZine report released on Thursday.

Despite the first quarter being a slower time for charitable giving, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund announced on Thursday that it had its strongest first quarter in its 20-year history.

If there is going to be growth in the life insurance market it will be in the mass affluent market, said executives at the 2011 Life Insurance Conference on Tuesday.

Sixty-five percent of Americans do not know what a hedge fund is, according to a survey by Thesis Fund Management.