Practice

While retirement income is fast becoming the No. 1 concern of retirees and pre-retirees, trumping worries over rates of return and control over money, a mere 9.5% of financial advisers are addressing the issue in depth-missing out on a vital way to form and cement relationships with those entering into retirement, according to Fidelity Investments.

You can be the best financial advisor in the world but if people don't know you're there, they'll miss out -- and so will you. And when people do find you, either through a referral or targeted marketing strategy, how are they likely to respond?

Research Affiliates sees high inflation, low growth in the developed world. BlackRock looks for companies with strong cash flow. Gold prices rise.

As banks search for their place in the fast evolving world of social media, they are increasingly looking to technology to help them cope with a tangle of potential regulatory and legal challenges.

Nearly one-third, 29%, of the three million 401(k) participants that Vanguard serves had their portfolios in a target-date or balanced fund, or a managed account advisory service, according to Vanguard’s 10th annual “How America Saves.”

Endace, a network monitoring infrastructure firm, has teamed up with Verizon to help financial firms prevent losing critical market data from trading venues.

It turns out banks are reluctant to help dig their own graves. In letters to federal regulators, several institutions said they remain worried about a requirement that they submit a "living will" outlining how best to dismantle them in a crisis.

The Financial Planning Coalition, a group that includes several organizations representing thousands of financial advisors, this week released a copy of a petition it sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission, asking the regulatory agency to extend the definition of fiduciary standard to include “anyone providing personalized investment advice to retail clients.”

ING’s U.S. retirement division is attempting to pursue the small- and mid-sized defined contribution business through the banking channel and with a convenience payroll strategy.

More 401(k) participants are invested in single target-date, balanced fund or managed account advisory services, according to Vanguard’s “How America Saves 2011” report.