Practice management

The CFP Board permanently revoked the right of William B. Smith of Grafton, Mass., to use the CFP designation after investigating allegations that he fraudulently used $1.2 million in client’s money for his own benefit and moved $25,000 from another client to his own account.

A prolonged low-interest-rate environment has compelled high-net-worth investors to seek out dividend-producing stocks and corporate bonds with renewed vigor, according to a new survey by Fidelity Investments.

The regulator announced Thursday it fined Merrill for “supervisory failures” and “for failing to provide certain required trade notices.” Merrill has provided $32 million in remediation, plus interest, to the affected customers.

Ranging from 13 to 22 years old, some members of Generation Z may have just gotten their first cell phone, but that does not mean advisors should ignore them.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested that the Volcker Rule to ban proprietary trading would have helped to prevent the $2 billion credit loss at JPMorgan.

Social media record keeping may become a larger challenge for firms as they keep pace with regulatory rules, Bank of America Merrill Lynch executive Douglas G. Preston said Wednesday at the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s Social Media Seminar in New York.

In the puzzle of oncoming financial regulation, how to properly oversee a firm’s liquidity is one of the largest pieces regulators are now working to get right.

James E. Putman, the founder and former CEO of an Appleton, Wis., investment firm, was disciplined by the CFP Board for allegedly accepting $1.24 million in kickbacks for steering clients’ money into dubious investments.

As Comptroller Curry discloses concerns about JPMorgan Chase's risk management, lawmakers continue their debates over agency funding, derivatives oversight and other issues of the reform effort.

After breezing through a Senate hearing last week, Jamie Dimon faced tough questions from members of both parties at a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee.

Wells has been on a hiring tear, having added advisors with more than $1.9 billion to its various wealth businesses already this month.

According to the World Wealth Report 2012, last year was the second most volatile period in the last 15 years. The number of people with over $1 million investable assets increased by a marginal 0.8% world-wide, and their overall wealth fell by 1.7%, the second decline since 2008.

Tom Ford and Jeff Jones join Raymond James’s employee broker-dealer arm, Raymond James & Associates, in Peoria, Ill., and now operate as the Ford Jones Group.

Change is in the air for one of the world's oldest asset management fund shops.

Now is the time to find out if your current business model is providing the kind of client experiences that makes you either a wealth manager or an investment facilitator. (And if you don’t know, you should because your clients surely know the difference.)

Daniel J. Trolaro, a former planner and insurance agent from East Hanover, N.J., allegedly defrauded nine clients out of a total of $1.9 million, which he then used to gamble online, according to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.

Rene Nourse has established a new company, Urban Wealth Management, in El Segundo, Calif., that will use Concert Wealth Management for advisory services and Concert Advisor Services for back office support.

Marketing expert Marie Swift says financial advisors who find their voice and unleash their personal story will rise to new heights as they capture the attention and hearts of their audience and influence key decision-makers in their communities.

The Northern Light Fund Trust and certain members of its current and former trustees as well as an unnamed chief compliance officer have received a “Wells notice” from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

There are roadblocks that can hold an organization back from achieving its full potential. But how can you turn dysfunction into better results?