Financial institutions

An ex-Morgan Stanley advisor represented himself in a contract dispute with the firm before FINRA, and the arbitration panel assessed him over $200,000 in fees.

Wealth management firms look to grow the bottom line out West. "Everybody is trying to get bigger in the marketplace. And those who aren't present here want to enhance their presence," says Bill Willis, a Los Angeles-based recruiter.

A veteran Merrill Lynch advisor with $1.5 million in production joins RBC Wealth Management.

Supporters of a broader and more rigorously enforced fiduciary standard are rallying behind a set of best practices they would like to see advisors and brokers incorporate into their practices.

Independent Financial Partners, an LPL firm, tapped a financial services veteran to recruit advisors from the wirehouse channel.

Janney Montgomery Scott replaces wealth management products chief David Penn, as he steps down to become a financial advisor.

FINRA has promoted one of its own to head the regulator's disciplinary unit, but still has no replacement for Linda Fienberg's other role as head of arbitrations.

The financial services sector as a whole is chasing short-term gains and in the process saddling investors with the costs of higher trading volumes and often not acting in their best interests, says Vanguard founder John Bogle.

A Merrill Lynch advisor managing $230 million in assets has left the wirehouse to join RBC Wealth Management.

Regulators have been clamping down on auditors of broker-dealers in recent years in response to the lack of meaningful audits of Bernard Madoff’s investment firm and other scandals uncovered during the financial crisis.

Wirehouse advisors managing more than $1.1 billion in assets have moved over to Wells Fargo.

John Taft, head of RBC wealth management in the U.S., weighs in on extending fiduciary responsibility to broker-dealers, saying any extension must account for the distinct business practices of the sector.

In a two-week period, Ameriprise has recruited five advisors managing more than $600 million.

For advisors looking to break out of wirehouses, legacy firms or banks, going independent doesn’t necessarily mean they have to go it alone.

Advocates are calling on the head of the SEC to move forward with a uniform fiduciary proposal, even if that means pushing the rules through a divided commission split along party lines.

Baird picked up a branch manager from Wells Fargo and a regional advisor managing about $150 million in assets.

Morgan Stanley landed an advisor team managing $1.1 billion in assets.

Regional broker-dealer Janney Montgomery Scott recruited an advisor who managed $115 million in assets and generated about $1.3 million in annual revenue.

HighTower recruited a Merrill Lynch advisor team managing $440 million in assets.

Former-NFL football player-turned Merrill Lynch advisor Reggie Wilkes is helping players and their families manage wealth: "I felt there was a need for someone to support their efforts to overcome the cycle of financial failure."