Financial planning

The list has been narrowed down. On Wall Street and New York Life/Mainstay Investments have named the top 100 branch managers for their steadfast leadership, commitment to their advisors, and their ability to recruit and retain talent no matter the circumstances. Click through for a breakdown firm-by-firm of those at the top.

Here we present a new look at our Top 50 Bank Advisors list, reshuffled and ranked by percentage increase in assets under management (and then we cut it down to just the top 20).

What are the biggest technology trends, innovations and ideas impacting advisors today? Over 600 people, including more than 300 advisors, descended on Miami for the eighth annual Technology Tools for Today Conference. The event featured the industry’s best and brightest highlighting all the latest technology tools that will held advisors be more competitive, effective and efficient. Here are some of the most interesting things our editors heard, and advisors and financial experts tweeted, from the event.

In January Financial Planning featured tips from industry experts on how to improve your practice. Now, advisors sound off with their own tips for colleagues and competitors.

How can you build a better advisory practice? Check out some tips from the experts.

Merrill Lynch financial advisor Kevin Scott, number 8 on the Top 40 Under 40 list, took his cues to become an advisor from his father. Now, they work together as a team.

As an increasing number of fee-based advisors leave wirehouses to go independent, some custodians are experiencing some of the strongest growth in the financial industry. Here are the top 15 custodians as ranked by RIA assets.

Many investors are carrying the scars of the past five years into 2013. Some may lose money sitting in cash or fixed income while failing to recognize some long-term opportunities. Others may be too keen on trying to time the market to avoid potential downside. To clear up some misconceptions, Wells Fargo explains some of the less focused-on market trends that investors and advisors should keep in mind and also offers some timely reminders that are relevant no matter what direction the market turns.

How can advisors be more productive and take more time off? According to Jimmy Williams of Regier, Carr & Monroe in McAlester, OK and Randy Thurman of Investment Advisors Inc., by focusing on a dozen simple steps, the big picture becomes simpler.

Demographic shifts, technology implementation and investing challenges were in the spotlight this week in San Diego, where about 3,000 advisors and other industry professionals came together for TD Ameritrade Institutional’s annual conference. Between the presentations, meetings and hallway conversations, Financial Planning heard lots of smart takeaways for advisors.

Take the money and run? It is a question advisors face as retirees get offered lump-sum bonanzas.

Lack of knowledge is the top reason for not using alternative investments followed by lack of track record, according to Cambridge, Mass.-based consulting firm Cogent Research. As popular of an investing tool as they have become, there are different theories about what role alternatives play in a portfolio as well as what actually constitutes an “alternative,” so it’s easy to understand why there could by some misunderstandings.

Here we present a new look at our Top 50 Bank Advisors list, reshuffled and ranked by percentage increase in annual production (and then we cut it down to just the top 20).

What makes an online trader successful? Fidelity Investments surveyed its top trading customers, those with a 12-month portfolio performance of at least 20%, to find out the secrets to their investing success.

Institutional investors' investment philosophy is changing with the times. The products they're asking for are becoming more and more in-line with larger social and macro-economic trends, according to a report from Boston-based consulting firm Cerulli Associates and the Institutional Investor Institute.

These often-reclusive businesses manage the finances of America’s affluent and occasionally complete with banks for clients and employees. These offices have interesting back stories.

If you want to keep them on track, forget nitty-gritty details and focus on these six major themes.

Change is the name of the game in 2013. A new report from Aite Group looks at the major trends that could dominate the wealth management industry this year.

As the RIA industry grows and reshapes itself, advisors need to keep an eye on the shifting competitive landscape. In our annual RIA Leaders report, in addition to identifying the top 50 firms by AUM and by growth, Financial Planning ran the numbers to find 50 emerging fee-only RIA firms to watch.

You can use a well-organized advisory board to get strategic advice from the people who are your most valuable assets. Here are a few suggestions for running a group.