Practice management

Scott & Stringfellow named Bryan Cram president of its private client group. Cram he plans both internal and external expansion of the retail business.

They’re skeptical, cynical and probably way too dependent on mobile computing devices. But advisors who don’t make the effort now to target and cater to Generation X and Generation Y investors will pay a steep price in the next decade as their bread-and-butter Baby Boomer clients transition from wealth accumulators to wealth distributors.

Advisors who want to position themselves for growth should set their sights on the next generation of investors who are poised to inherit unprecedented wealth.

In testimony before members of a House committee on Wednesday, Richard Ketchum, the chairman and CEO of FINRA, offered an enthusiastic endorsement of a legislative proposal to establish a self-regulatory organization to oversee RIAs.

“It’s who, what, why, where, when and how much,” says Nick Niemann, an Omaha, Neb., attorney wo has worked with hundreds of financial planners and their entrepreneurial clients.

At UBS Global Asset Management, the push to outsource all middle office operations, from portfolio tracking to fund accounting to performance reporting to general administration proved to be a "daunting task."

The 2012 John Hancock Trust Survey found that 84% of investors surveyd strongly trust their financial advisor, while primary doctors were “strongly trusted” by 79% of those surveyed and accountants by 74%.

Investors of all ages and incomes want more online services and features in order to be more informed and involved in their investment activities. And if they don’t get them from their financial advisors, they’ll find someone – if they haven’t already – who will.

"I would first like to fully fund the SEC," Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, said at a hearing this morning considering the Bachus bill. "The very fact that we're considering an SRO argues strongly against the inadequate funding this Congress has given the SEC."

The Milwaukee-based company hired Brian Rauscher as a chief portfolio strategiest to run the new group

Fidelity has introduced the “Realizing the Value in Your Firm” program, which includes a series of workshops being conducted nationally to help advisors understand succession planning options.

Genworth Wealth Management has created a proprietary six-step process to help its advisors meet the challenges of a higher level of client service.

Citi Private Bank hired Stephen Baird as director of its Houston branch, where he will provide private banking services to ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families.

Ninety-eight percent of advisers expressed concern that the estimated SRO membership fees would have a financial impact on their ability to run their firm. Of the 98%, 69% said the impact would be categorized as “severe.”

As lawmakers take up legislation that would reshape the regulatory landscape for retail investment advisers, industry groups are poised to present sharply contrasting visions for where expanded oversight authority should be housed.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney has hired two Wells Fargo financial advisors with $1.49 million in combined production in Syracuse, N.Y.

After more than two decades urging the SEC to increase regulatory oversight of financial advisors, Barbara Roper stunned many on both sides of the debate by declaring herself open to the prospect of regulation coming from a self regulatory organization, such as FINRA.

Sports spectators will likely see a bull cross their television screens this summer, and it will not be from the annual running of the bulls in Pamplona, Spain.

The SEC has conducted routine inspections of FINRA’s advertising and arbitration programs, but not as frequently as it had planned.

You can teach classes, you can advertise or you can flat-out buy new clients. But whichever strategy you take, you need to be committed because it's not easy.