Practice

T. Rowe. Price has opened a newly relocated investor center in downtown Washington, D.C., the Washington Business Journal reports.

There's no evidence that indicates the breakaway advisor trend is slowing down. While that's great news, Financial Planning blogger Mindy Diamond says this means that these advisors have their work cut out for them in the way of due diligence.

Noelle Maloney, who was second in command of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's troubled internal watchdog office, has left the agency.

Even as Merrill Lynch moved to a $40 million settlement in response to a class action lawsuit this week, some experts ask whether it will be enough to satisfy some several thousand advisors who left the firm following its acquisition by Bank of America.

Merrill Lynch formally agreed to a $40 million settlement to a class action lawsuit brought by two of its former advisors regarding their deferred compensation on Friday, a decision that will potentially impact more than a thousand advisors with production levels of $500,000 and less.

"We have many advisor who are choosing to build their practices around women," says Joan Khoury, LPL's chief marketing officer. "When they do this, we are empowering them to have all this turnkey info for their women investors."

Authenticity is a critical component of being a successful financial advisor. Unfortunately, not all advisors fit that description, according to Steve Sanduski, "The Prosperous Advisor."

Plan participants who pick their own mix of investment options are generally exposed to greater risk due to reduced diversification, according to The Principal.

ICI President and CEO Paul Schott Stevens said the "exhaustive record" before the SEC did not support the changes that it was proposing.

Merrill Lynch is expected to head into a New York court Friday and hammer out a settlement that could potentially affect the deferred compensation of thousands of financial advisors that have left the firm since its 2008 combination with Bank of America.