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Breaking through the growth barrier is a concept that's all too familiar to most advisory firms at one point or another in their development. The principals have founded the business, then scratched and clawed to get it to the point of viability. But at some point, even though the firm may have gathered a respectable amount of assets, the growth just seems to plateau. Here are eight tips to help get your firm over the hump:

Hiring staff to help streamline processes and handle the workload can lead to huge growth for financial advisors who are willing to take the plunge, says Chad Olivier, founder of The Olivier Group, a financial advisory firm in Baton Rouge, La.

Jefferies Group named Thomas Fetzer as the new managing director of its global industrials group where he'll be responsible for coverage of capital goods clients across German and throughout Central Europe.

Broadridge has named Stefanie Shelley, a longtime financial services marketing veteran, chief marketing officer. Shelley had been a marketing consultant for the firm since August 2010.

Daniel Kern, a former Charles Schwab portfolio manager, has left the company to preside over Advisor Partners, a firm that provides investment and wealth management platform solutions to advisors.

Hedge funds have been holding their own amid the severe market swings of the past week, with the Dow Jones Credit Suisse Core Hedge Fund Index declining only -3.66% month-to-date through Aug. 14. By comparison, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell -11.58% in that time, and the S&P 500 declined -13.18%.

A former managing director of the Nasdaq Stock Market was sentenced today to 42 months in prison by a federal judge in Virginia.

As trading opens on another nervous week on Wall Street, mainstream investors are casting their votes on prospects by racing out of mutual funds that invest in stocks long-term.

Five years from now, the median account balance of a defined contribution plan assets will reach $150,000, up from $100,000 today.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has upheld an administrative judge's ruling that a mutual fund trader must pay more than $200,000 in penalties for accepting gifts from broker-dealers to steer trades their way. The regulator didn't buy the trader's excuse that the mutual funds weren't harmed.