Practice management

The proposed rule change might lower litigation and forum expenses, but it could also result in more claims and awards against reps and (eventually) RIAs.

An analysis by Spectrem Group found that 41% of wealthy investors surveyed said they relied primarily on their own research and analysis, while another 40% said they relied primarily on a trusted financial advisor.

Bankers are "bastardizing" the process of terms of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, by threatening to file lawsuits over whether costs and benefits of new rules have been adequately studied, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission member Bart Chilton.

The heart – and brains – of a Wall Street firm used to be the great sales trader, said Matthew Andresen, co-CEO of Headland Technologies. Now, that value increasingly is moving into machines.

In addition to the emotional issues surrounding clients’ financial decision-making, most advisors’ skill sets are not aligned with the task ahead.

“Before allowing our reps to use social media, we needed a technology solution to handle our complex regulatory needs,” says Chad Oppedal, assistant director of compliance for the Principal Financial Group.

Morningstar, Inc. has launched a new alternative investments center as part of several enhancements to MorningstarAdvisor.com, a free website that provides advisors with practice management information, investment trends, and industry insights.

SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro told a financial services subcommittee of the House of Representatives that the federal regulator intends to spend $100 million of its $1.6 billion requested budget for fiscal 2013 on information systems and another $50 million on modernizing the EDGAR stock information database and www.sec.gov, its public website.

Marketing expert Marie Swift says niche marketing cannot only help advisors attract significantly more business, but also provide richer opportunities for self-expression.

The advisor allegedly used client money to buy a $3.35 million beach resort being developed by a relative.

The odds of being single at some point during retirement are high and present unique challenges for both “ever single” retirees who never married and for those who become “suddenly single” in retirement due to divorce or death of a spouse. In fact, 43 percent of Americans age 65 and older are single due to divorce, having never married, or the death of a partner.

The new process will be partially electronic, the proposal suggests, to eliminate current deficiencies and delays.

Steve Sanduski, The Prosperous Advisor, offers up five suggestions for financial advisors who have successfully grown their business for years but now find themselves stuck and unable to achieve the level of success they truly desire.

Investment Technology Group said it released an algorithm that will capture matching orders in the opening auctions of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market.

Goldman Sachs said it expanded its suite of algorithms for electronic trading in Brazil, as a part of a “firm-wide focus’’ on the South America market.

For many planners with high-net-worth minimums for their clients, target-date funds don’t make sense for a variety of reasons. But in the right circumstances, they can be helpful tools.

The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has voted to issue for public comment a proposed auditing standard on related-party transactions, and to amend standards on significant unusual transactions and auditors of broker-dealers.

An arbitration panel shot down a claimant’s request for up to $2.9 million for allegedly botched investments tied to private placements and Ponzi schemes last week, and instead ordered her to pay almost $136,000 in costs and expert witness fees.

As banks nationwide struggle to process troubled assets off their books, middle market companies have not been able to get the loans they need to grow. Private money is stepping in to fill that gap – and providing yields that planners are seeking for their HNW clients.

Many investors put off making final IRA contributions until the last minute, and now Fidelity Investments has an app for that.