Practice management

It turns out the merely comfortable are expecting better performance from the economy and their individual investments through the remainder of the year than those residing in highest tax brackets.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney made the inevitable official by allowing a test group of 600 wealth management advisors to use Twitter in a limited capacity to connect and interact with clients and prospective new clients.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday adopted rules that could reward individuals who blow the whistle on illegal activity in securities markets, with bounties on successful prosecutions where sanctions exceed $1 million.

Fidelity fielded a study that found 75% of the broker-dealer and registered investment advisory firms are planning to hire up to 30% more employees over the next 12 months.

After navigating their portfolios through some very difficult investment waters in recent years many ultra high net worth investors are now adopting a more laissez-faire approach to their investments, leaving the day-to-day details to their financial advisors.

FINRA Chief Executive Richard Ketchum said firms need to have strong internal vigilance as the self-regulatory organization plans to step up its examination processes.

And many are distrustful of unscrupulous financial services and insurance companies.

The atmosphere at the hearing reflected how polarizing a figure Warren has become, being portrayed either as a symbol of overreaching government or a defender of the consumer.

Now that Bank of America has bought itself out of a massive class action over the sorting of overdraft fees, its fellow banks need to decide if they hold an advantage that B of A did not.

The broker industry’s chief regulator said Tuesday that its examiners will spend more time on “open-ended thematic reviews” that can identify where controls on financial risks break down.

Lincoln Financial Group unveiled Lincoln InStep, an educational program for retirement plan participants designed to raise advisors awareness of products, services and strategies to help defined benefit contributors maximize their retirement savings investments.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority fined Chicago-based Nuveen Investments $3 million for creating and distributing misleading brochures to promote the sale of auction rate preferred securities.

They plan to boost their staff by 30% over the next 12 months, Fidelity finds.

Two big-bank executives said that unless Congress delays Dodd-Frank's cap on debit interchange fees, they are ready with options for new consumer and merchant fees.

In the May issue of Financial Planning magazine, I discussed how client perceptions may have changed over the past three years. I use the term Client 2.0 to describe this more-cautious and aware buyer, and offered thoughts on how you can better connect using an evolved Client Communications 2.0 plan. I spoke with several smart, accomplished advisors and industry consultants such as Ed Jacobson, Steve Saenz, Carol Anderson and Amy Mullen to hear their comments.…

While Congress, the SEC and individual states continue to work out the precise definition of a fiduciary and precisely what his or her requirements will be going forward, RIAs and other financial services professionals still need to take it upon themselves to implement best practices that will ensure they'll be in compliance whenever these new regulations are finalized.

While a religious group was predicting the imminent Apocalypse last week, a set of financial services industry representatives were warning of the possible end to their own world.

The firm should have been more on the ball, from a supervisory standpoint, the claimants’ attorney said.

According to the 12th Annual survey from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies released on Tuesday, a substantial number of Americans are unprepared for retirement and many do not have a backup plan if they are forced into retirement earlier than planned.

The vast majority of American employees are still under financial strain, even when the study looked at the least vulnerable demographic groups—men, those between ages 55 and 64, and workers who earned between $150,000 and $199,999 a year.