Portfolio

The Securities and Exchange Commission would like to hear from advisors. That was the resounding message of a speech delivered Tuesday by Norm Champ, the director of the SEC's Division of Investment Management, the unit of the commission that oversees federally registered investment advisors.

When the Department of Labor produces its controversial proposal to extend fiduciary responsibilities to certain advisors to retirement plans later this year, the plan will come with a robust economic analysis making the case for new regulations, along with targeted exemptions to the rules, the senior official who is leading the effort said on Tuesday.

In May, stock and bond mutual funds, including exchange-traded funds attracted $56 billion of net inflows bringing total net intake for the first five months to about $350 billion, according to data from Strategic Insight.

For a majority of financial advisors, life insurance planning isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Leawood, Ka.-based Montage Investments has been busy lately adding more sales executives, assets and a new mutual fund to boot.

More than 60% of high-net-worth clients expressed a high degree of trust in both their wealth managers and their firms, according the World Wealth Report 2013, but a majority prefer to work with a single firm to “manage all of their financial needs."

Lets just admit it. The words "indexed annuity" make advisors cringe. But is it time to give these products another look?

In May, stock and bond mutual funds, including exchange-traded funds attracted $56 billion of net inflows bringing total net intake for the first five months to about $350 billion, according to data from Strategic Insight.

At the fund family level, Vanguard Group once again led all providers with more than $11 billion in flows, according to data from Morningstar.

DCIO shops are converging this week in New York to showcase their wares and portfolio managers to advisors.