Practice management

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.

Small business owners offer a great opportunity to build a loyal customer base, but there are some potential drawbacks and challenges advisors need to overcome.

Each social media site has its own culture. Every advisors needs to learn how to exist in them or risk getting lost in the crowd.

Kasina has unveiled a new research report looking at how asset management and insurance firms are currently using mobile technologies to interact with their wholesalers and advisors.

Advising entrepreneurial clients is rarely easy work for planners, especially when it comes to dealing with warring members of a family owned business.

They’re earning more income than ever before, outlive their husbands by an average of four years and are significantly more inclined to seek out financial advice, but the advisory community still hasn’t done enough to cash in on this enormous wealth management opportunity.

Advisors need to focus on building an enduring business, said Mark Tibergien, the CEO of Pershing Advisor Solutions at the 2012 Pershing Insite Conference.

In testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, the Fed chairman also highlights lawmakers' role in strengthening U.S. economy.

As the debate over regulatory reforms in the RIA sector has resurfaced on Capitol Hill, industry groups on both sides of the issue are making their case to lawmakers and staffers in the hopes of either advancing or derailing legislation that would establish a self-regulatory organization to oversee RIAs.

Wells Fargo has snapped up new advisor hires with more than $1.99 billion in assets under management in its Private Client Group, bank branch-based Wealth Brokerage Services and independent Financial Network in the past several weeks.