Practice management

In the first of what the SEC hopes will be many more such awards, a whistleblower has received $50,000 for his or her help in stopping a multi-million dollar fraud. More money may be forthcoming for the individual if other, related cases move forward. The first award comes about a year after the whistleblower program began operating.

New tools to help bank advisors are getting top billing at LPL Financial's annual Focus Conference. But a key new hire to help in those efforts may not be announced officially until the three-day conference is over.

When Irvine, Calif.-based planner Winnie Sun jumped from Smith Barney to LPL Financial about 18 months ago, a major factor driving the move was her new firm's support of social media.

In a surprise move, incoming National Association of Personal Financial Advisors Chairman, Ron Rhoades, said that because of a compliance violation by his firm he will not be assuming the helm of the advocacy group on September 1 as anticipated.

Merrill Lynch has hired a two-member advisor team who previously managed more than $1 billion at Wells Fargo's Abbot Downing business.

The nuances of advising widows and divorcees require a more tailored approach to investment planning.

JHS Capital Advisors, a Tampa, Fla., based registered securities broker-dealer and registered investment advisor, continued its national expansion when it announced Monday it hired Steven R. Lofquist as a first vice president and a financial advisor.

Advisor-owned financial services firm HighTower has snapped up a Credit Suisse advisor team with about $1 billion in assets under management, marking the eighth team to move to the firm this year.

How might the world have been different if, starting 10 years ago, every would-be home buyer had access to a free and independent tool that showed them - in highly personalized and granular detail - precisely what they could and could not have afforded to buy? Would there have been a real estate crash at all?

Marketing expert Marie Swift says basic seminars are no longer a client magnet. Successful financial planners must be educators, networkers, and online trailblazers. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Chris Kirby says financial advisors often become hostages of their own "to-do" lists. That's why it's so important to create and adhere to a list of things that you're not going to handle so you can focus on the most important (and revenue-generating) tasks.

Defined contribution plan sponsors need to do a better job communicating key information to participants, according to a survey of plan participants conducted by State Street Global Advisors.

The SEC announced fraud charges and an emergency asset freeze against a Denver-based company and two Colorado residents for allegedly carrying out a $15.7 million Ponzi scheme that dragged in more than 120 investors nationwide.

With 10,000 boomers turning 65 every day, these aging clients and their advisors face a slew of new challenges and complex investment and planning decisions.

FINRA says the brokerage didn't have enough controls in place to detect that Jared Weinryt had breached his $116 million trading limit as he made overnight bets on so-called futures.

Advisors who move aggressively into fee-based business end up doing much better than their transaction-based colleagues, with more assets, a higher return on those assets and more revenues, according to a new report.

A new survey of broker-dealers highlights the extent to which their firms rely on back-office technology to manage and improve advisor relationships, while at the same time revealing broad dissatisfaction with the solutions that firms have currently deployed.

Eighty percent of financial advisors say they're dabbling in social media to drum up new business and one in five has already reeled in new clients as a result of participating.

Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to settle charges that its brokerage and a former vice president sold securities it didn't understand to municipalities, non-profit organizations and other customers.

Steve Wershing, "The Referral Doctor," says one of the great misconceptions in our business is that clients "give" us referrals. If advisors want to learn how to attract a significant number of ongoing referrals, they must understand the dynamic that causes people to make referrals in the first place.