Practice

Over the next 10 years, advisors will help their clients facilitate the largest wealth transfer in the history of our nation's history and charitable planning will become an increasingly larger and more important part of that service.

Seventy-three percent of annuity owners and 17% of non-owners agreed that annuities are an important part of a retirement strategy, compared to 55% and 8%, respectively a year earlier, according to the survey of investors and financial advisors released at the IRI 2012 Annual Meeting,

"The industry has been in an interesting transformation," said Catherine J. Weatherford, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute. "The financial crisis hit banks rapidly, but for the life insurance industry, it took a while for the issues from the crisis to develop."

If you're thinking about starting your own financial services firm, you're going to need a ton of money and even more patience.

The Kentucky-based firm has hired a former Merrill Lynch advisor with $29 million in AUM.

Franklin Templeton has expanded its defined contribution investment only team this year with the addition of four wholesalers.

Multi-manager shop Virtus Investment Partners has added Rampart Investment Management, which specializes in customized options strategies for institutional and high-net-worth clients, as a wholly owned affiliate of Virtus.

There's no rest or relaxation for operations managers, as fund firms adjust to life in an era of worldwide financial reform.

Risk management and regulatory reporting.

Following news that Merrill Lynch Wealth Management lost several advisor teams to rivals this week, the firm is pushing back with three advisor hires of its own from competing wirehouse firms.