Practice

The rich will be getting even richer over the next decade and the pool of investors formerly identified as merely affluent will soon make the leap to millionaire status, creating plenty of growth opportunities for wealth managers and investment firms in the U.S. and abroad.

While the entire financial services industry simultaneously bemoans and braces for more oversight and regulation, advisors out in the field have to do a better job of understanding and articulating the difference between independence and objectivity when it comes to dispensing investment advice to existing and prospective clients, according to a new research report released this week by SEI.

Fidelity Investments announced that its ultra-high-net-worth program for independent RIAs has reached almost $2 billion in assets in just the first six months since its launch in October 2010.

Most broker-dealers and compliance departments are terrified of social media, but advisors cannot afford to be, Matthew Halloran a practice management coach at Peak Advisor Alliance said during the company’s Excell Meeting.

Ninety percent of advisors generate business through referrals, but only 10% to 15% of advisors ask for referrals. What are the secrets to improving those percentages?

In the perpetual race to keep advisors well equipped, efficient and loyal, Cetera Financial Group has just launched a technology platform for its investment adviser representatives.

Banks need to be prepared to show documentation of their processes as standards change under the Dodd-Frank legislation, a panel of financial industry experts said on Wednesday.

The royal wedding, eliminating the notorious mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks--this is going to be a week to remember forever. But I also wonder whether it might represent another milestone.

The U.S. economy, while not poised to grow as rapidly as emerging nations and saddled with a $1.4 trillion a year deficit, has the fundamentals in place and “the resiliency and strength” to reclaim its position as the leading economy of the world, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told attendees at the Investment Company Institute’s General Membership Meeting here Wednesday.

Marty Gruenberg, the No. 2 at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is expected to be nominated shortly as the agency's chairman, according to several sources.