The Latest

After prospects become customers, planners have many questions. Here's a look at a somewhat painful yet pivotal phase of the relationship.

Stephanie Behnke is the principal of industry and market insights at Hi Marley. As a former claims executive, CIO and Head of Innovation, Stephanie has built a career focused on understanding the business pain points of insurance carriers and implementing right-fit technology that improves adjuster and agent efficiency while ensuring policyholder experiences are modern, simple and lovable. Stephanie has experience leading major claims-based digital transformation initiatives, has successfully managed large-scale Guidewire implementations and regularly worked with carriers to architect multi-year claims technology roadmaps designed to reduce expenses without sacrificing the customer experience. Her ability to balance business outcomes with a human-centered design approach has enabled her to partner with insurance executives as they consider how to further streamline communication and collaboration efforts across the insurance ecosystem to drive efficiencies.

Cade Thompson is co-president and chief growth officer of Rocktop, a solutions-as-a-service company.

The SEC has approved the first U.S. exchange-traded funds investing directly in ether, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency.

Stan Hannah, Ph.D., is a partner in Plante Moran's talent development practice.

Paul Bryant is partner of advocacy, equity and engagement at Plante Moran.

Cost segregation could reap real real tax advantages when it comes to IRA-to-Roth IRA conversions — but advisors must know if the pricey initial study makes it cost effective.

Josh Jones is Chief Revenue Officer at Kapitus, one of the most reliable and respected names in small business financing. With over 15 years of experience, Josh has a specialization in building brands and has a proven track record of successfully establishing, reorganizing, and scaling businesses within FinTech. Kapitus provides growth capital to small businesses and has provided over $6 billion to over 50,000 small businesses since 2006.

Portfolio managers are shifting to platforms that offer an all-in-one, single point of entry for making different portfolio transactions. Cerulli reports the trend is picking up steam.

With brokerages, consolidation, lawsuits and more, independence ain’t what it used to be. Advisors who want to break away must contend with ever-changing options and obstacles to define their own version of independence.