Commonwealth Financial Network

In J.D. Power’s annual survey, independent and employee reps gave wealth managers a higher satisfaction index than last year.

The trio of advisors leaving Commonwealth for the regional firm are its largest “reverse breakaways” ever.

Peggy Ho built the rival firm’s government relations team, and she’s joining the new firm at a pivotal time in wealth management regulation.

The wealth managers paid victims restitution prior to one barred rep’s guilty plea and another one’s sentencing.

The rep reeled in at least a dozen victims to the complex scam even though he was suspended from the industry for a different case, according to investigators.

One of the largest wealth managers aims to attract more teams out of the crop of nearly 7,000 advisors leaving employee-channel firms each year.

The advisor allegedly carried out a 20-year scheme defrauding at least 15 clients through forgery and misrepresentations.

In a sign of long term changes and pivotal questions for the industry, the difference between the amount of fees and commissions in the sector has nearly doubled.

The survey's perennial champions scored higher than competitors like Wells Fargo, Ameriprise and LPL on every metric.

The largest percentage of women advisors for any single firm rose from the previous year, but the available numbers paint a stark picture.

For the first time, the ranks of the top 25 firms according to their annual business include single entries for IBD networks.

Faced with the retention risk from the RIA-only channel, firms are trying to alter their company cultures and questioning traditional approaches.

SEC-mandated disclosures for dual registrants could put clients off brokerage options, some suggest.

The IBD’s head of practice management says more planners should explore becoming ensembles, and she also divulged the firm’s “secret sauce.”

The ensemble and enterprise pickups came after the No. 4 IBD added 70 advisors in the first nine months of the year.

Critics reject the notion that disclosure alone is sufficient for reigning in conflicts — but the charges against Commonwealth have put BDs on notice.

The firm didn't disclose its conflicts of interest in receiving over $100 million in revenue sharing from mutual funds over nearly five years, the SEC says.

Commonwealth and Edward Jones remain the top-rated firms — J.D. Power notes they share a few characteristics in common.

Two perennial champions retained their top ranks in 2019 — but the aging demographic poses challenges for all firms, according to J.D. Power.

The combined AUM of the top 10 companies has soared by 60% to more than $770 billion over the past five years.