Practice management

Advisors “are now at the point where they are asking, ‘What oar should I buy?’” said Blane Warrene, the CEO of Arkovi, a leading social media archiving service.

The CFP Board disciplined 24 planners in its most recent thrice-yearly review of disciplinary or ethics allegations. In 13 cases, planners lost their rights to use the CFP designation permanently. Six other planners received suspensions for varying lengths of time, and five received letters of admonition.

As experts forecast persistent fiscal issues in Europe and disappointing growth domestically, this is the most important time for advisors to pick up the phone and talk to their clients, UBS Wealth Management Americas CEO Robert McCann said.

Social media is today's printing press and advisors have to be prepared for a new Rennaissance, according to Jason Seiden, the co-founder and CEO of Ajax Social Media Group.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has introduced an iPad application for its corporate treasury clients using the online payment and invoicing system, Paymode-X.

More than 20% of male baby boomers surveyed have postponed their retirement, 27% don’t know when they will retire, and 20% haven’t even saved for retirement at all.

“There is a tremendous generational shift we are starting to see already,” said Tom Nally, the new president of TD Ameritrade Institutional. “By the end of the decade, the next generation, will have over $28 trillion, up from $2 trillion. It is incredible.”

Independence and technology are the leading factors for successful advisors, according to four advisors at TD Ameritrade Institutional’s Elite Summit, but some of the other factors were even more surprising.

“There are so many wonderful financial planners but so few of them do business financial planning,” says Karl Frank, a planner and founder of A&I Financial Services in Englewood, Colo., who specializes in entrepreneurial clients.

Affluent investors in three of Europe’s most prosperous nations have decidedly different levels of sophistication when it comes to investment knowledge and how they interact with their online trading and advisory firms. Knowing and appreciating these differences, according to a new Dow Jones survey, can make all the difference for American firms and advisors looking to expand their international client base.

401(k) auto enrollment has been all the buzz in retirement planning, and now it seems even more effective than expected.

Landing entrepreneurs and small business owners as clients can be a great way to boost your assets under management, but advisors need to understand their unique needs and challenges in order to provide the best possible service. Here’s what advisors need to know to attract and retain these complex clients.

Turning to an outside coach can help even the most successful and established multi-million dollar financial advisors and their practices run more smoothly.

Financial advisors looking to work with 20-something clients need to take a unique service approach with a group that financial services firm OrganizAmerica President Joanne Woiteshek says has traditionally been treated as the “trophy generation.”

Genworth Financial Wealth Management has added 20-year industry veteran Rico Casares to its practice management consulting team.

Advisors clearly need to change how their practices are staffed up in order to meet the challenge of running clean, client-focused businesses.

If personal financial planning is complex, then advising entrepreneurial clients is orders of magnitude more so. Planner Karl Frank in Englewood, Colo., who specializes in clients who are small business owners, relies on a guiding principle for himself and for this class of clients.

USAA Investments is adding six target-risk mutual funds to its portfolio.

Securities America is previewing changes to its advisor dashboard, and SA Mobile, a new mobile phone application that allows advisors to operate CRM programs and apprise clients of certain aspects of their accounts, the firm announced.

When working with entrepreneurial clients, planner Seth Streeter, co-founder of Mission Wealth Management in Santa Barbara, Calif., finds that most are handcuffed to their companies and stuck working in their businesses and not on them.