Practice management

In January, the GAO issued a study that took a pass on regulating the financial planning profession, saying it did not have enough information to form one. Perhaps they will think differently after the summer is over, after TD Ameritrade Institutional wraps up a high-level study on advisor oversight.

Maribeth Kuzmeski, president of Red Zone Marketing, suggests financial advisors should embrace social media to promote themselves and find creative, meaningful ways to differentiate yourself from competitors.

As the financial markets hit investors with gale-force market dips, most advisors are telling their clients to drop anchor. And, at least in the short term, most investors heeded that advice as the Dow Jones Industrial average closed up more than 400 points Tuesday, just one day after losing more than 600 points, the sixth-largest, single-day decline in history.

Bowing to concerns about the costs of compliance, the Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to figure out just how much broker-dealers, transfer agents and banks must spend to track down owners of unclaimed securities accounts before it issues a new rule.

BNY Mellon this week said it will expand its treasury services group's electronic billing and payment processing services to include notifications via SMS text messaging to clients' mobile devices.

The problem for many sole practitioners and small planning firms is that working with a PR firm in any way, shape or form is generally too expensive to even consider. This week, we'll talk about a more affordable option: Group Training and Empowerment Programs -- which can be a very attractive option if you can find the right group.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. said that it will not change any valuations of securities required as collateral for the activities of Fixed Income Clearing Corp. as a result of Standard & Poor's downgrade of its rating on U.S. government debt.

Even though the government reached an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, 54% of Americans surveyed said the debate over the debt ceiling has made them feel less confident in the economy, the RBC Consumer Outlook Index for August found.

Barack Obama has missed his chance to see a director of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau take office within his first term as president.

CBOE Holdings said its net income jumped 32 percent, even as trading in futures and options declined 16 percent in the secnd quarter.

Scottrade this week debuted a new mobile trading application for investors looking to access real-time research, news and analysis and execute trades from their smartphones and iPad tablets.

I think we as advisors are going about our lobbying effort all wrong. More to the point: does it make sense for us to keep lobbying on behalf of the consumer or should we act like everybody else in the universe and lobby for things that would better serve our own interests?

The global economy is trudging through an austere recovery. Lawmakers in the U.S. have just wrangled an uneasy compromise about the debt ceiling and the equity markets are a constant source of surprise to investors. Sounds like the right time for you to walk away from the practice for a couple of months.

The state of Arizona this week signed a five-year contract extension with Nationwide Retirement Solutions to provide deferred compensation plans for more than 26,000 plan participants.

The operator of the New York Stock Exchange reported net income of $154 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2011, compared to net income of $184 million, or $0.70 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2010.

Despite arguments that retirees should be exposed to equities in order to bring enough growth in their portfolios to last throughout their retirement, Morningstar’s president of the investment management division, Peng Chen, argues in a new article that retirement portfolios must include a conservative bent that includes longevity-insurance products.

Organization and communication are key components of both how a financial advisory firm should be run and the work that firm does for its clients, according to Grant Rawdin, president and chief executive officer of Wescott Financial Advisory Group, which has offices in Philadelphia, Miami, Boca Raton and Washington, D.C.

Most public relations firms cite studies that claim the services they provide are at least three times more credible than advertising. But for financial advisors, the question often is how do you measure the return on your PR investment?

Giving feedback, recognition and rewards to staff is a worthy management technique that can help grow your business.

To help your clients achieve their goals, learn what's important to them by developing a strong bond.