Practice management

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has not found any major abuses from its targeted examinations of broker-dealers that were either placement agents or worked with such agents to obtain business from municipalities and public pension funds, market sources said Tuesday.

While the financial services community waits for some movement from the SEC on new rules and policies governing advisors, the Labor Department has taken it upon itself to get the ball rolling in the name of better protecting investors and pensioners.

Roy Seay and Carolyn Edwards each worked at UBS for 11 years and together had $850,000 in annual production.

RIAs are embracing the idea of shaping their compliance procedures around what could go wrong.

A well-prepared professional approaches turbulence and dire conditions that present themselves calmly and confidently, performance consultant Dr. Rick Jensen told attendees of the Bank Investment and Securities Association in the closing keynote Tuesday.

Social media has become an inescapable force, but many in the financial services industry are still holding back from using it.

Client satisfaction and loyalty are poor indicators of a likelihood to refer. Julie Littlechild, President of Advisor Impact, de-mystifies the process for advisors attending the FPA Business Solutions Conference 2011.

The brokerage adds Rob Pietroburgo from Wells Fargo to its Springfield, Ill., branch as part of its advisor and branch expansion strategy.

Since the recession, institutions have had difficulties garnering trust, with 75% of those surveyed in a recent Capco/Tower study saying their trust in large institutions decreased after 2008. Making matters worse, 25% of financial advisors and wealth managers are leaving their firms and going independent, taking trusted client relationships with them, said Alvi Abuaf of FIS in a breakfast session at the ABA Wealth Management Conference Tuesday.

The company added six wealth executives in California, two in St. Louis, two in Washington state, one in Portland, Ore., one in Nasvhille, one in Portland, Maine, and one in Chicago.

Hendel is set to start in New York in June as managing director and head of global prime brokerage.

Being financially prepared for retirement consistently ranks at or near the top of investors' lists of priorities regardless of their age, ethnicity, income level or gender. But this basic albeit mundane goal was largely forgotten by fund managers, financial advisors and even investors themselves in the past decade as cheap loans and skyrocketing home prices distracted many from the big picture.

Sixty percent to 80% of all interpersonal communication is non-verbal, which means everything financial advisors do is meaningful, said Joe Navarro, author of “Louder Than Words” in his luncheon speech at the ABA Wealth Management Conference.

Between the SEC's broad and unspecific recommendations to safeguard shareholders from unscrupulous advisors and the Department of Labor's recent attempts to redefine the conditions under which a financial advisor becomes a fiduciary, the financial advisors and broker-dealers providing the guidance and products investors need for retirement are huddling up to decide which regulations and rule changes they should support in the face of looming legislation.

The fine, related to the sale of municipal securities, will require the firm to ensure it is complying with Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board rules.

Clever “fan” recruitment is the norm for some insurers; who’s taking the lead?

Their exposure to public equity averages 21%, below the historic 30% to 35% range.

Developing talent should be as important to executives as developing strategy.

"When you practice Sales Intelligence, you’ll win twice the business of those who ‘wing it,'" according to ActiFi's Sam Richter. "You’ll ensure relevancy and impress any client, any prospect, every time."

Making the right support staff hires can improve the overall efficiency of a financial advisory firm and make it easier for top advisors to seek out and serve new clients, says Dan Davis, president and co-founder of ADK Wealth Advisory Group in St. Louis.