Practice

For advisors like Chris Diodato of WELLth Financial Planning, everything from insurance to industry software is costing more these days.

It can be hard for advisors to fully understand what clients and prospects truly want. The right questions can uncover not just financial blind spots, but the fears, priorities and assumptions behind their decisions.

Natasha Howe's friends were blowing up the internet as influencers, but they needed a financial advisor who could help get their financial lives in order. She now has a growing niche.

David Woodcock is set to take the job as SEC leadership directs staff to focus on insider trading, accounting fraud cases, market manipulation and breach of fiduciary duty by investment advisors.

The addition of Peter Laidlaw to Merrill's offices in San Francisco comes as firm executives aim to engage in "more aggressive recruiting."

A deal is more than just a top-line number and misalignment in culture and communications can cause conflict down the line.

RIA Soltis acquired accounting, tax and advisory firm GDM Private Financial Solutions, the latest example of client demand for integrated wealth and tax planning solutions.

SEC regulators instead take aim at their predecessors in the Biden Administration, saying the outsized fines were partly the result of a desire to "pursue media headlines and run up numbers."

Advisors with asset minimums find themselves rejecting clients arbitrarily and can often feel disconnected from their clients' planning goals.

The Minneapolis-based company plans to leverage the arrangement to draw more attention to its growing list of national business lines, transcending its regional reputation.