Financial planning

Though many advisors say that they want to boost client satisfaction, most don’t know how to make it happen. By taking the right steps to keep your clients highly satisfied, you will be able to position your practice for stronger growth.

So much research comes out this time of year with many major firms cautiously offering their predictions for the new year that we wondered how they would stack up on the major issues. We’ve parsed through some of the larger reports from Barclays, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, ING and Wells Fargo to track the top themes and condense it down. Here are some of their more interesting recommendations on global themes as well as some more local, unique investment ideas that they had to offer.

Here’s a sampling of bank reps who were recently promoted or moved to new organizations to assume roles of greater responsibility.

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

The RIA sector drastically outpaced the growth rate of the rest of the financial services industry in the past year, growing at 13% versus 1.3%, according to research from Cerulli & Associates. For our annual RIA Leaders report, Financial Planning ran the numbers to look at the 50 fastest-growing fee-only RIA firms for 2012.

Who is poised to influence the financial advisory industry this year? Check out who made the list, in alphabetical order, and who will set the agenda on everything from the next generation of advisors to the latest set of regulatory rules.

Two questions lie at the heart of the rapidly evolving registered investment advisory space: Which of the country's 15,016 RIA firms can legitimately call themselves independent? And what, precisely, does independence mean anyway? Here are Financial Planning's top 50 fee-only RIA firms for 2012.

For a price, new data-mining services offer access to stunningly detailed personal information on clients and prospects.

The Women Advisors Forum convened for its last 2012 event on Dec. 17 in Boston. Among the topics discussed include tips to facilitate the recruitment process, how to use technology to improve communication with clients, sustainable investing as a long-term strategy and new approaches to practice management. Check out these photos for some of the highlights from that day.

With 2012 coming to an end and 2013 just on the horizon, many advisors are doing what they can to prepare their business for the New Year.

When doing their Christmas shopping this year, advisors didn't forget their clients. And some are coming up with unique ways of rewarding the loyalty of their closest accounts. It starts with a card and gets more involved (and more pricey) from there. See what some clients are finding under their tree this season.

From social media’s growing influence in wealth management firms, to a look at the top 40 advisors under 40, Wall Street has undergone some rapid changes in 2012.

From the Top 50 bank advisors of the year to major acquisitions in the banking space, 2012 has been a roller-coaster ride for advisors in the the bank channel.

From veteran advisors battling to keep clients away from financial danger, to some of the top schools grooming the next generation of advisors, 2012 has been a year of both growth and opportunity for the financial advisory sector.

After a round of changes this year in the financial advice industry, some big players found themselves in diminished circumstances by year’s end. Here’s a look at some of the people, organizations and ideas that ended the year in a downturn.

With the financial advice industry going through a period of change, we took a look at the past year to see how the players shook out. Here’s a look at some of the people, organizations and ideas that ended the year in a sweeter position than they began it.

Regardless of gender, advisors are always looking for ways to find new clients, manage their pratice, improve their technology, meet special sets of client needs, and more. On Monday, more than 100 advisors descended on the Women Advisors Forum in Boston Monday to hear speakers from throughout the profession offer important advice. Check out six smart things we heard.

As clients get into the holiday spirit, too many are not making smart decisions about the gifts they purchase. Many clients see gift-giving as a chore, and as a result, are hasty in making purchases. While this may be natural in a task-oriented society, clients should consider transforming their giving from just stuff – opened today, forgotten tomorrow – to gifts that benefit the recipients and themselves long after the tinsel and bows have been swept away.

With the impending fiscal cliff only weeks away, Washington still has not reached a compromise. Yet a recent Gallup survey found that eight in 10 Americans consider achieving resolution to avoid the fiscal cliff extremely or very important. For businesses and individuals, this means a difficult task in year-end tax planning.

The end of the year is a time that is dominated by goal setting and making projections. While this is an important process for advisors and clients alike as they head into the New Year, many plan and set goals the wrong way.