Practice management

Women want a quality relationship with their advisors that involves interpersonal, relationship-driven factors. What does that translate into in your practice? It starts by listening.

For the second year in a row, enforcement actions set a record, jumping 21% last year, to 2,724, an increase industry representatives attributed to a persistently heightened focus on capital and safety and soundness standards in the wake of the financial crisis.

"We're no closer to an end game than we were before the report," one panelist said Thursday. "Maybe even further away."

Having attended hundreds of practice management and motivational sessions at various conferences over the years, it has become clear to me that most of our roadblocks to business and personal success are (get ready to wince) self-created.

A former broker for RBC Capital Markets is set to pay $1.7 million to RBC Capital Markets and his request for $37.8 million in compensatory damages has been denied.

House panel members on Wednesday opposed federal bailouts for municipal governments and were reluctant to provide states with bankruptcy protection, but they seemed to support requiring improved public pension fund disclosure.

Although saving for retirement is critical for women - they live longer and make less money than men - women save 40% less than men, according to a new research study by LIMRA.

With regulatory reform bringing a wave of changes to defined contribution plans, advisors need to be even more conversant in the ins and outs of legislative requirements and other complexities. Which is why BlackRock is beefing up its commitment to advisors who work with these retirement plans.

New survey finds that small business owners are more optimistic about their economic future than they've been since early 2004.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Panel ordered Citigroup to pay $6.4 million to a group of investors including investment banking executive D. Theodore Berghorst for municipal arbitrage trust fund losses.

Two teams from D.A. Davidson have joined Raymond James to open an independent branch office in Spokane Valley, Wash.

Barclays Wealth has added Daniel Esslinger to its team as managing director and head of Latin American relationship management and distribution, boosting the firm’s decision last year to focus on that region.

While Jobs’ ideas are applicable to broader business, upon close examination they seem tailor-made for the financial advisor in particular.

On the eve of congressional hearings examining whether unfunded pension liabilities could trigger severe fiscal stress for state and local governments, a coalition of 10 groups representing state and ­local entities said public pensions are not in crisis and are not ­seeking federal assistance.

In business, as in life, we need to remember five principles, says Bruce Weinstein, The Ethics Guy: Do no harm, make things better, respect others, be fair and be loving.

The common refrain of needing to spend money to make money doesn't necessarily apply to social media marketing where time and enthusiasm can trump budget.

One of TD Ameritrade Institutional’s best breakout sessions was a panel of experts discussing some of the best tactics to get PR exposure.

Morristown Financial Group added about 70 new independent advisors in 2010, and credits momentum from its compliance management system, Advisor AdvantEDGE.

Ultimately, owners and managers have huge responsibility in making sure their firm moves forward. Often, the choices they make around their staff are the biggest factor in whether they are successful or not.

TD Ameritrade Institutional brought in Kelli Cruz from InvestmentNews Custom Research group to share information gained from their 2010 InvestmentNews/Moss Adams Financial Performance Study of Advisory Firms.