Financial planning

What are the unique questions your target market should be asking themselves? Because of almost universal access to information, if the clients fully understood their problem or their questions they would have little need for an advisor.

As advisors look to protect clients' assets, and lock in steady income streams as well, they're changing the ingredients they use. They're adding new products to the mix with an eye—always—toward allaying the anxieties of their conservative clients.

The first U.S. exchange-traded fund tracking China’s domestic stocks will lure investors seeking exposure to a broad range of industries in the biggest emerging economy, according to Societe Generale SA’s private bank.

Advisors look to alternative investments to diversify, hedge against inflation and decrease correlation, but should all clients have alts?

As the standard-setting body for CFP professionals, the CFP Board has a critical role in shaping the financial planning profession. Along with the FPA, it has laid the foundation for the past 25 years for the recognition of financial planning and it has worked admirably in enforcing the standards for CFP professionals. …

The firms will be studied by U.S. regulators who are in the early stages of reviewing whether asset managers pose a potential risk to the financial system, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Over time, by angling a portfolio towards value-oriented stocks and small caps, investors will be compensated for taking on additional risk according to academic research.

More than three-quarters of U.S. public finance rating changes made by Moody’s Investors Service in the third quarter of 2013 were downgrades, reflecting concentrated credit pressures in some areas of the country even as economic recovery is seen on a larger scale.

Advisors can do a better job when it comes to preparing team members to succeed.

The company has a new deal with a Texas firm targeting ultrahigh-net-worth clients.

ETFs let you maintain asset allocation while taking tax losses.

Here’s a look at ten of the most influential executives in the business and their insights, concerns and predictions for the future of the advisory industry.

Bill Gross no longer runs the world’s largest mutual fund.

Investor demand improved, despite the continuation of outflows from municipal bond mutual funds for a 23rd consecutive week, at $503 million for the week of Oct. 30.

The IRS released the annual cost-of-living adjustments last week affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2014.

After columnist (and startup RIA) Dave Grant discussed the challenges of having prospects say no, Chad Smith — an advisor at Financial Symmetry in Raleigh, N.C. — sympathized on Twitter.

Can a different investment model create greater portfolio diversification than the traditional 60/40 asset allocation model?

What, exactly, do high-performing advisory firms do differently than their less successful peers?

The real estate market may have had its ups and downs in recent years, but REITs are holding their value and merit a place in client portfolios.

Gold is down from it's high of around $1890 in 2011, but some investors are still inquiring about including gold and other precious metals in their portfolios.