Practice

A two-hour Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday touched on virtually every major financial services topic under the sun but resolved little.

New research by Novantas LLC, Forrester Research and others adds weight to an idea being kicked around in the industry: that mobile may have its limits as a way to entice tech-savvy customers, reduce branch use and cut costs.

The time and energy that the advisor focuses on the client produces far more terminal wealth for that client than anything you can get from the traditional investment management services.

The key is turning that overriding motivation into actual results in the real world.

The previous minimum was $3,000 for eleven of the twelve funds in the series.

The new balance represents an increase of almost 12% from a year ago, and a 58% jump from the same period in 2009.

In the last 18 to 24 months these proudcts have become increasingly available to the mass affluent because of a reduction in costs and an increase in efficiency, said AJ Harper, managing director of Lockwood Advisors, an affiliate of Pershing, in an interview at the Money Management Institute annual conference.

These four firms might be able to capture the $350 billion that affluent investors plan to roll over from their workplace retirement savings plan to an IRA.

With the ongoing probes as to how the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act could affect the financial marketplace, Riverside Risk Advisors executives are predicting new margin rules in the derivative sector will have significant impact on pension plan investment transactions.

Top House Democrats attempted to halt momentum Wednesday for a bill to delay by 18 months the derivatives provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act.