Practice

Advisors who want to position themselves for growth should set their sights on the next generation of investors who are poised to inherit unprecedented wealth.

In testimony before members of a House committee on Wednesday, Richard Ketchum, the chairman and CEO of FINRA, offered an enthusiastic endorsement of a legislative proposal to establish a self-regulatory organization to oversee RIAs.

“It’s who, what, why, where, when and how much,” says Nick Niemann, an Omaha, Neb., attorney wo has worked with hundreds of financial planners and their entrepreneurial clients.

At UBS Global Asset Management, the push to outsource all middle office operations, from portfolio tracking to fund accounting to performance reporting to general administration proved to be a "daunting task."

The 2012 John Hancock Trust Survey found that 84% of investors surveyd strongly trust their financial advisor, while primary doctors were “strongly trusted” by 79% of those surveyed and accountants by 74%.

Pershing on Wednesday said advisors will now be able use its platform to open, fund and manage 529 college savings plans for investors looking to set aside cash for their children’s education.

Investors of all ages and incomes want more online services and features in order to be more informed and involved in their investment activities. And if they don’t get them from their financial advisors, they’ll find someone – if they haven’t already – who will.

"I would first like to fully fund the SEC," Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, said at a hearing this morning considering the Bachus bill. "The very fact that we're considering an SRO argues strongly against the inadequate funding this Congress has given the SEC."

On June 6, 2012, The Securities and Exchange Commission charged OppenheimerFunds Inc. and its sales and distribution arm with making misleading statements about two of its mutual funds struggling in the midst of the credit crisis in late 2008.

The Milwaukee-based company hired Brian Rauscher as a chief portfolio strategiest to run the new group