Practice management

The Insured Retirement Institute announced Wednesday it elected Larry Roth chairman of its board of directors.

It's no secret that the rise of mobile devices has created one of the largest shifts in consumer behavior in the last 40 years. ABI research reports that 1.2 billion smartphones will enter the market over the next five years and Morgan Stanley predicted that web browsing on mobile devices is likely to overtake desktops within the next couple years. Is your website keeping pace?

As efforts to apply stricter fiduciary and disclosure requirements on broker-dealers slow, the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard, a one-year-old think tank that advocates for uniformity, met with Mary Schapiro, the Chairman of the SEC, to make its case.

Wells Fargo Advisors has extended its summer hiring spree with the addition of two Morgan Stanley Smith Barney advisors with $127 million in client assets under management.

With so many financial services-related conferences vying for the attention and attendance of advisors and wealth managers, how do you determine if a particular conference is worth committing to and what are you really hoping to get out of it?

Seeking confidential access to brokers looking to make a transition, Securities America has signed a new agreement with online company Join A Firm that will cover costs for its branches to maintain profiles on the recruit-matching site.

Advisors who don't feel like wading through reports on 9,000 hedge funds may feel more comfortable scanning information on about 40, especially if those funds have been expertly screened. Envestnet has announced a hedge fund research alliance with Fund Evaluation Group.

To become more successful, most small business owners must begin by acknowledging all of the areas in which their business falls short. For independent advisors, and many entrepreneurs, this can be a tough thing to assess. Never fear: Four key custodians offer four simple ways to improve your business.

Preparation is the key to a successful audit. The following guidelines will help your firm smoothly navigate the regulatory audit process and manage any possible surprises.

ING has launched a new program called The Opportunity to Articulate Your Value in effort to help advisors stay on top of rapid changes in regulations and compensation in the retirement space.

Even with Wall Street and consumer advocates allied in pushing for it, a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to raise standards for brokers advising retail investors has run aground.

Over the next 10 years, advisors will help their clients facilitate the largest wealth transfer in the history of our nation's history and charitable planning will become an increasingly larger and more important part of that service.

If you're thinking about starting your own financial services firm, you're going to need a ton of money and even more patience.

The Kentucky-based firm has hired a former Merrill Lynch advisor with $29 million in AUM.

Following news that Merrill Lynch Wealth Management lost several advisor teams to rivals this week, the firm is pushing back with three advisor hires of its own from competing wirehouse firms.

The SEC has obtained a $1.1 million settlement from Portland, Ore., based planner Christopher Keil Hicks and two of his companies on charges they failed to disclose a revenue-sharing agreement and other conflicts with his clients.

The SEC filed a cease-and-desist order against noted investment advisor and radio personality Ray Lucia, alleging a series of misleading statements in retirement-strategy seminars plugging Lucia's "buckets of money" strategy.

Robert Ceccarelli and John Hursh collectively manage more than $148 million in assets and produce nearly $1 million in revenue. They will join Ameriprise's employee advisor channel and be located in the New Haven, Conn.

The Robinson Reuter Group brings $250 million in assets under management to RBC's La Jolla, Calif., office.

Barclays Plc recruited a team for its wealth and investment management division from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney that includes former New York Jets wide receiver Wayne Chrebet.