Practice management

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority won’t force investment advisers to meet the same rules as broker-dealers, according to FINRA’s chairman and chief executive officer Richard Ketchum.

Making the right hires and using a firm-wide team approach to client service has helped Leonetti & Associates, a financial advisory firm in Buffalo Grove, Ill. grow and prosper, according to chief executive officer Michael Leonetti, who founded the firm in 1982.

High net worth investors are returning their money to the market and have put the painful memories of past financial shenanigans in the rearview mirror but they're more fickle than ever when it comes to sticking with their primary financial institution or their individual financial advisor.

A retired American Airlines pilot is set to recoup his retirement savings tied up since 2009 in non-public mortgage funds.

Uncertainty about fluctuating interest rates and rapidly spiraling health care costs were cited as the two largest fears of both retirees and pre-retirees, according to a new survey conducted by the Schaumberg, Ill.-based Society of Actuaries.

“Opinions are continuing to move in a positive direction,” said American Century's Jennifer Sussman. “Social media is being seen as a trend with future potential.”

ING announced Friday it hired Orlando R. Cruz as president of its individual retirement investor channel.

The OCC and Fincen issued a $7 million civil money penalty against Pacific National Bank of Miami for Bank Secrecy Act violations and failing to comply with a previous order.

The U.S. Attorney for southern Florida and the FBI on Thursday charged a one-time entrepreneurial whiz kid who already has spent time behind bars for fraud with manipulating the stock of a public company. Using, among Internet-related communication mechanisms, YouTube.

Jason Schlesinger comes to Baird after three years at Wells Fargo and eight years at Bank of America Investment Securities.

Facebook and Twitter may have the market cornered when it comes to immediate, mass-audience polling and recommendations, but when it comes time to select the person who will be responsible for a person's financial livelihood, investors still want to a referral from a trusted relative or friend.

When you talk to the public about the Japan situation, begin by recognizing this is first and foremost a human tragedy.

The SEC is seeking industry comment on a proposal to require broker-dealers to follow the same rules as transfer agents when it comes to finding so-called “lost shareholders.”

Chairman Mary L. Schapiro said Wednesday the SEC should consider making reviews of automated systems used in the exchange of stocks and other investments mandatory. The mandate would be an outgrowth of Automation Review Policies issued a quarter century ago, after the Black Monday crash on Wall Street in 1987.

The more than $113 billion New York City Pension Funds have been granted right of passage by the Securities and Exchange Commission to present a foreclosure request on big bank shareholder ballots.

The short-selling fine comes after Southwest was nabbed for improperly soliciting municipal bond business.

The retirement conundrum of how much money is enough is an ongoing battle that impacts both men and women, but one area where men seem to be winning out is retirement confidence, according to EBRI’s 2011 Retirement Confidence Survey released last week.

Certainly, communication breakdowns are headaches. But when political tumult grips North Africa and the Middle East, and the earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan actually go nuclear, make sure that there are no breakdowns between your practice and your clients.

American workers exited 2010 with more than $10.2 trillion invested in employer-sponsored retirement plans, up 10% from the $9.3 trillion in play at the close of 2009, according to a new report from Chicago-based affluent investor consultant Spectrem Group.

While tens of thousands of independent financial advisors looking to build their brand and their book of business are just now warming to social media, most are still reluctant to jump in with both feet due to compliance and regulatory issues set forth by FINRA, the SEC and FSA, most of which deal with archiving and recalling all correspondence to protect investors.