Practice management

An accountant with a New York accounting firm that handles smaller broker-dealers is warning advisors who work at such firms that if their employer is a clearing organization, they should pay attention to how well it is planning for a continuation of business under new rule changes being mulled by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A recent survey by Putnam Investments disclosed that American households are on track to replace only about 64% of their current income in retirement -- significantly less than the 75% of income that most financial professionals recommend. To help address this discrepancy, the money management firm is rolling out a tool it says will give employers and their advisors a way to help boost employees’ retirement savings.

Citi Private Bank has hired Daniel Batista from JPMorgan Chase & Co. as a managing director and ultra high net worth banker.

The Financial Planning Association kicks off its annual conference, Experience 2011 Thursday and industry professionals are sure to walk away with boomers and transformation on their minds.

Investment Technology Group said it is adding Japanese stocks to its POSIT dark pool. The agency broker and financial technology developer said it expected strong demand for its "liquidity aggregation" platform in Japan, following launches in Hong Kong and Australia.

Recent market volatility has put risk management and the work of chief risk officers at the forefront of fund management, according to Joseph A. Carrier, chief risk officer at Legg Mason.

A hearing before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services Tuesday allowed representatives from across the financial advisory industry to air their views about whether a new self-regulatory organization is necessary to oversee advisors and broker-dealers and, if it is, how it should be constructed.

Whether analyzing a trade before you make it or processing it afterward, Deutsche Bank says there’s an app for that.

The transmission of market data messages hit a new peak of 6.1 million messages a second Monday, as financial markets whipsawed in reaction to "news and rumors about the debt crisis in the Euro zone,'' Exegy said Tuesday.

Retirement programs for public employees are under siege, with numerous state and local employers either undertaking or considering massive restructuring of their benefit plans. The constraint comes as state budgets constrict and asset values drop.

If your logo is more than a dozen years old, chances are it's time for a makeover. Tired, dated materials won't reassure prospective clients that you're progressive and will constantly update the knowledge and services you offer. Your branding essentials may not need a complete overhaul, just a simple facelift.

Partnering with local libraries to bring financial education to interested people in her area has been a successful route to prospective clients for Darla Main, of Main Advisory, inc. in McMurray, Penn.

Long-only institutional traders are widely worried about the impact of high-frequency trading programs on the shape of equities markets, according to a survey conducted on behalf of Liquidnet, operator of a venue for trading anonymously in large blocks of shares.

The latest incarnation of TD Bank's buildup of a broad social media program for North America -- the embedding of Twitter staff within the contact center -- is only a few months old, but the bank has already discovered the formula to win an impressive spike in the use of social media to resolve customer queries.

Investment advisors could eventually have a national self-regulatory organization akin to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority soon, if draft legislation introduced by an Alabama Congressman becomes law. But it will not come without a fight.

SS&C Technologies Holdings has completed its acquisition of BDO Simpson Xavier Fund Administration Services Limited, in Dublin, Ireland.

The Securities and Exchange Commission this week said it’s in the early stages of a major examination into the operations of hedge fund companies and investment banks that engage in high-frequency trading.

At a time when jobs are hard to find and raises are paltry, employers are looking to their 401(k) plans to better serve their workers. And, according to Charles Schwab, many employers are adding plan features to drive participation and savings.

Fidelity Investments’ RIA custodian business has announced a new tool, Technology Investment Evaluator, to help advisors run their businesses more efficiently.

The dotcom crash and the Great Recession have taken a serious and lasting toll on the risk appetites of Generation Y, according to the latest MFS Investing Sentiment Survey. This generation, between the ages of 18 and 30, are “investing more like their parents and grandparents, many of whom grew up in the shadows of the Great Depression,” said William Finnegan, senior managing director of U.S. retail marketing for MFS.