Practice

Now that profits are at record highs, financial advisors' next priority should be better people management, according to the 2013 FA Insight Study of Advisory Firms: People and Pay. Cost control, solid productivity and soaring client profitability helped the typical advisory firm reach a profit margin in excess of 20% in 2012, the highest margin in the survey's five-year history.

In working on retirement plans with your clients, the most vital strategies can be playing defense and protecting them from their own temptations.

If you have clients who are struggling with the regular investment goals you’ve designed for them, and just can’t seem to understand where the problem might lie, it could be time to ask this question.

Morningstar today published its inaugural issue of Financial Services Observer, a research report examining the competitive shifts in the U.S. wealth management industry, companies responses to industry changes following the financial crisis, and which companies Morningstar equity analysts think are poised to be a boon for shareholders.

Rex Staples, the director of investigations for the beleaguered CFP Board of Standards, is stepping down.

Bloomberg -- Bank of America Corp. is seeking approval of a $160 million settlement from a judge who thrice rejected requests by black financial advisers at its Merrill Lynch unit to sue as a group over alleged racial discrimination.

Strategic marketing customized for female clients helped one longtime planner build her own practice up to $100 million in AUM.

Bank of America is seeking approval of a $160 million settlement from a judge who thrice rejected requests by black financial advisers at its Merrill Lynch unit to sue as a group over alleged racial discrimination.

Regulatory reform is likely to continue on its current path if Janet Yellen, the Federal Reserve Board's vice chairman, is tapped to lead the central bank. The future is decidedly murkier if Larry Summers wins the post.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's surprise criticism of President Obama's plan to unwind Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has upset the conventional wisdom surrounding housing finance reform.