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Investors pushed stocks higher for the first time this week Thursday after an initial jobless claims report checked in at a three-and-a-half week low and the Philadelphia’s Fed’s Business Outlook for December came in with a 10.3 reading – dramatically higher than the 4 score most economists had predicted.

Advisors agree almost unanimously that volatility will be a force to reckon with in the next two years, but 38% are not using managed volatility strategies in client portfolios, according to an SEI poll of 200 financial advisors.

More than 80% of investment advisors would prefer to pay user fees to fund greater SEC oversight than to be overseen by a self-regulatory organization, a major new study found.

Before the Department of Labor rewrites its proposal to redefine fiduciary responsibility — a new proposal is expected in the first half of 2012 — there are three changes SIFMA would like to see in the rulemaking process.

Raymond James has added four firms with total assets of $410 million to its RIA division, said Mike DiGirolamo, senior vice president and managing director of the Investment Advisors Division of Raymond James Financial Services.

This week, IRA expert Ed Slott tackles a variety of questions from investors and accountants on beneficiary IRAs, hardship withdrawals and reconverting traditional IRAs back into Roth IRAs.

FINRA also orders the firm to make restitution for not providing breakpoints on unit investment trust sales and for unsuitable sales of reverse convertibles to older customers.

Trying to increase your fee-based business, but not sure how to do it? Your clients probably aren’t asking for this arrangement, so how should you broach the subject? That’s just one of the topics we covered in our webinar earlier this week with three of our Top 50 bank advisors. And in case you missed it, you can find it here.

Fifth Third Private Bank, a division of Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank, has hired wealth management executive Jeff Martin as its director of wealth planning. In the newly created position, Martin will lead a team that provides wealth-planning services for high-net-worth individuals and senior executives.

The 11th quarterly Allstate-National Journal Heartland Monitor Poll found that near-retiree Baby Boomers have pushed back initial plans to retire from an average of age 60 to 66. Additionally, 68% of Baby Boomers expect to work in some form after retirement, the survey of 1,200 Americans found.