Practice

Financial planning, when it’s done right, requires a lot of different skill sets. So what exactly are firms looking for when it’s time to bring someone new aboard? Here's what the people who actually make the personnel decisions had to say.

The Securities and Exchange Commission just took action against a trader in Latvia that hacked online brokerage accounts in the United States, costing customers $2 million.

Participants in defined contribution retirement plans want direction—and even prompts—from their employers when it comes to saving for retirement. That’s one of the findings from a survey by State Street Global Advisors, the asset management business of State Street Corp.

Financial planning, when it’s done right, requires a lot of different skill sets. So what exactly are firms looking for when it’s time to bring someone new aboard? Rather than rely on some think tank or consulting firm, Financial Planning queried principals at more than 50 advisory firms to find out from the people who actually make the personnel decisions what qualities they value the most. Turns out, many of these attributes aren’t found on candidates’ resumes. Here’s an interactive slide show featuring the Top 10 traits advisory firms want to see from a prospective new hire.

The head of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations called for an end to private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service which have “essentially opened the floodgates” for mutual funds to speculate in commodities from offshore tax havens such as the Cayman Islands.

This week, IRA expert Ed Slott tackles questions about rolling inherited annuities into separate IRAs and the rules and requirements regarding SEP IRAs.

The head of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations called Thursday for an end to private letter rulings from the Internal Revenue Service which have “essentially opened the floodgates” for mutual funds to speculate in commodities, from off-share tax havens.

A study by Ameriprise Financial and Harris Interactive found that men outpace women in planning for the financial aspects of retirement at a ratio of 77% to 72%. However, women are more likely to say they have thought about what they would like to do during retirement.

The vast majority of U.S. households — regardless of demographic and financial characteristics — overwhelmingly support preserving the nation’s current tax incentives to encourage retirement savings.

Merrill Lynch agreed to pay a $1 million fine for failing to arbitrate disputes with employees about retention bonuses related to its 2009 merger with Bank of America Corp., the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said.