Investments

With a laid-back style and team spirit, Gonzalo Echevarria, a financial advisor with AMTrust Bank, finds a home and builds a community in the Sunshine State.

Sam and Josh Stewart, father and son co-managers of the Wasatch World Innovators Fund, have figured out a solution to their investment differences.

This month, the issue that reared its head more than once was a question of whether advisors truly know enough to do their jobs effectively.

Low interest rates, product complexity and (some say) incompetent advisors have converged to drive down annuity sales. Here's what you need to know.

A run-down of the stories in this issue, beginning with the cover story, which details how to offer wealth management with a personal touch.

Political wrangling over the so-called "fiscal cliff," the potential expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts coupled with sharp reductions in federal spending, has stimulated many a conversation about the resulting financial planning implications.

European sovereign debt concerns and the U.S. debt-ceiling debacle spurred market volatility, pushing investors toward index-based equity funds.

With a few months to go in the presidential campaign, pundits are poring over every scrap of new economic data-notably, unemployment-for a clue as to whether President Barack Obama will be reelected. But the best predictor, many say, is the stock market.

One expert argues that dividend-paying stocks, not growth stocks, should be the building blocks of retirement portfolios

September

Why not test the conventional wisdom that investors should avoid fixed-income securities when interest rates rise?

Robert Shearer of BlackRock believes companies that pay dividends have discipline and staying power.

After the economic crisis, VA issuers go back to the basics, designing new products intended to avoid volatility and basis risk.

Crisis may be the new normal for investors, but it's also the stark reality of the communications landscape.

The two Republican members of the Securities and Exchange Commission said they are not opposed to further reform of the money fund industry, but that changes advocated by Chairman Mary Schapiro "were not supported by the requisite data and analysis.''

Can it possibly be? Technology stocks are paying the most dividends?

As investing in alternatives such as real estate, private equity funds, hedge fund strategies and commodities grow in popularity, the way these are being used by institutions and investment advisors is changing.

Who would've thunk it?

The ASTON/River Road Independent Value Fund is reopening to new investors starting Sept. 4.

The fee for three of the RiverFront Global Allocation Series mutual funds has been reduced by 0.15% and expenses are now capped at 0.90%.