Practice management

Tweets are 'static content' in the eyes of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, which operates a network of 18,000 financial advisors.

Getting started in social media is a lot like getting started in investing. It pays to have a plan. If you are like most advisors, you’re probably just getting started. For you less is more. Here are seven broad components to include in your social media plan:

Getting started in social media is a lot like getting started in investing. It pays to have a plan. And, much like investment planning, TJ Gilsenan, the Web Savvy Advisor, says social media planning involves assessing where you are now, determining where you want to go and establishing a plan to get there.

To be well prepared for succession, owners of financial planning practices should make sure employees are able to advance their careers within the firms. Firm owners should also learn how to manage Generation Y workers, because they’re going to be key to keeping practices alive.

Charles River Development has officially launched a new data management platform that will help fund managers integrate reference, issuer, benchmark-index and pricing data into their front- and middle-office applications.

Financial planners have several tools they can use to steer clients away from destructive behavior, said industry experts at a conference in New York on Tuesday.

Announcing changes that will likely affect wealth managers helping clients with tax planning, the IRS said that many tax benefits for the 2012 tax year will increase due to inflation adjustments. Investors will be able to contribute an additional $500 to their 401(k), for a total of $17,000 for those under 50 and $22,500 for those 50 or older.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is warning financial firms that following the spirit of the law is just as important as the letter of the law.

The Department of Labor issued new regulations that aim to broaden access to personalized investment advice for workers engaged in retirement savings plans.

The leading provider of software for 250,000 finance professionals, Emerging Information Systems, announced today that it expects to be acquired by Zywave, a provider of on-demand software for the insurance industry.

Deutsche Boerse said its derivatives exchange, Eurex, completed the re-location of its matching engines to a single data center. The Eurex trading and clearing infrastructure is now located in a Frankfurt data center operated by Equinix. In July, Deutsche Boerse moved its Xetra electronic stock trading market to the same data center.Eurex and Equinix had already been offering a co-location service in that International Business Exchange, since 2006. …

Putnam Investments is addressing the need for customized retirement income withdrawal strategies through the launch of the Putnam Retirement Income Lifestyle Funds, a suite of three income-oriented mutual funds, and a Retirement Income Analysis Tool.

Get ready to connect with far-flung colleagues: The FPA’s much-awaited new social networking site is live and picking up speed. Several thousand members worldwide are already connecting online, forming groups and developing their own self-directed platforms within the 24,000 member-strong organization.

"Simple Truths" From a Man Who Isn't an Academic

Firm principals will need to manage costs and people effectively or risk falling behind their peers, Mark Tibergien, chief executive officer of Pershing Advisor Solutions, said during a Money Management Institute conference address this week.

Wells Fargo’s Rich Lowrie helped craft the tax proposal that’s driving political debate.

The United Kingdom Competition Commission said it had provisionally found that the acquisition of the largest all-electronic trading facility in Europe by BATS Global Markets would not significantly block competition.

David Blaine is an illusionist, often referred to as a modern-day Houdini. So may be David Blaine Welliver, an investment advisor and operator of a mutual fund based in Buffalo, Minnesota, if the SEC is to be believed.

What is the difference between elite practices and other firms? One hint: Seminars are not what they used to be. Here’s an interactive slideshow detailing seven marketing tips that will boost your firm’s profile and assets under management.

American workers are becoming more and more pessimistic about their retirement prospects, according to a new survey by Sun Life Financial, but those who have invested in annuities or hold long-term care insurance are decidedly more confident.