Client strategies

Americans are allocating a smaller share of their spending to investment-related fees since the recession, a sign they are still wary of returning to financial markets even as stocks trade near record highs.

UBS executive Robert Mulholland has a message for professionals in the financial services industry: We are the adults in the room.

Barack and Michelle Obama need a better financial strategy. Financial Planning has several suggestions.

The survey, by Northwestern Mutual, found that three quarters of people prioritize long-term planning over short-term performance, and one-third said “slow and steady wins the race” best describes their approach to future financial goals.

Financial advisor candidates will need to pay more to take securities licensing exams starting June 1, the North American Securities Administrators Association announced.

Here's how one advisory firm is going after the at first glance less-than-obvious client – by targeting the most obvious client of all.

Wealth management, broadly speaking, is seeing impressive growth. But “broadly speaking” is a frustratingly vague term and most of your clients are not among the economic winners of late.

“As investor confidence grows and perceptions of wealth management firms improves, so do advisor perceptions of their firm, particularly among independent advisors,” the J.D. Power study reported.

“We have found that people in Gen Y not only said they are highly disciplined, they really are more highly disciplined than people in older generations,” Bill Taylor, vice president of financial planning at Northwestern Mutual, said in an interview. “It might be because they’ve seen their parents hurt badly when stocks fell in 2008, because of the decline of defined benefit plans, or just because young people have access to more information today.”

A bout of forgetfulness may be a classic sign of aging, or it could point to more serious health problems, such as Alzheimer’s.

Financial advisors with clients who have been awarded pension rights in a divorce should follow up to see if the proper procedures to claim those rights have been followed; if not, advisors should urge immediate action.

When it comes to staying in touch with younger investors, face-to-face or phone contact trumps social media outlets like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, according to a new survey from Merrill Lynch Private Banking & Investment Group.

Not sure how to help your small business clients see a situation more clearly? Try these road-tested tips in talking to your entrepreneurs.

The Minneapolis bank stakes its claim in the ultra high-net-worth space with facilities that are part private club, university, wealth management shop and boutique hotel.

Now that the infrastructure is in place, Umpqua Private Bank is ready to scale the business, says Kelly Johnson, the executive vice president of the wealth management division.

When advising small business owners, it helps to have the same passion — and entrepreneurial skills — as they do.

Getting clients together as a family unit not only helps build wealth, but also cohesiveness.

Do your clients have plans in place to protect their valuable treasures from the elements?

In the wake of continuing financial uncertainty and a volatile market, some older clients (and even young ones too) may find themselves too easily caught unawares. In response, the CFP Board released on Wednesday a guide that provides older clients financial self-defense.

Specific fees are much less important than understanding how the whole system of incentives works.