Practice

Advisors who move aggressively into fee-based business end up doing much better than their transaction-based colleagues, with more assets, a higher return on those assets and more revenues, according to a new report.

A new survey of broker-dealers highlights the extent to which their firms rely on back-office technology to manage and improve advisor relationships, while at the same time revealing broad dissatisfaction with the solutions that firms have currently deployed.

Eighty percent of financial advisors say they're dabbling in social media to drum up new business and one in five has already reeled in new clients as a result of participating.

RIA in a Box's registration maintenance service focuses on turning down an RIA's panic level from surprise regulatory visits.

Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to settle charges that its brokerage and a former vice president sold securities it didn't understand to municipalities, non-profit organizations and other customers.

Steve Wershing, "The Referral Doctor," says one of the great misconceptions in our business is that clients "give" us referrals. If advisors want to learn how to attract a significant number of ongoing referrals, they must understand the dynamic that causes people to make referrals in the first place.

TD Ameritrade Institutional claims its iRebal system will allow financial planners to rebalance client portfolios in "near-zero" time.

As sales of ETFs boom, the SEC's Office of Investor Education and Advocacy has released an investor bulletin on the investment vehicle.

Here's something for the estimated 72 million 401(k) participants to look forward to at the end of this month: On Aug. 30, the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration participant fee disclosure rule, dubbed ERISA 404(a)(5), will go into effect.

Independent financial advisors are strong supporters of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in his presidential bid, a new survey has found.