Practice management

MSSB and Wells Fargo have reached into each other’s advisor forces for two new wealth advisor appointments

It’s a nerve-wracking jolt into the electronic age, but converting your paper files to bytes streamlines both your client services and your compliance readiness.

Matt Fink, former president of the ICI, comments in the latest edition of his book on how another financial crisis may one day be in the making.

Advisors should heed how the bank is leveraging new technology to converse with customers online.

With wealthy under-50 investors making up 29% of total affluent investors in the United States – and growing - the big question for wealth management firms is how to gain more wallet-share from this critical client segment.

The Bank of America unit Trust has appointed five new advisors in Illinois and Texas to focus on ultra-high net worth clients.

HighTower has expanded its New York team by merging with the business of Steve Bogner, a former Morgan Stanley Smith Barney advisor who manages $80 million in client assets.

For the past two years, the FDIC has maintained a consistent crisis-response posture. But it will undoubtedly need to pivot in a new direction in 2011.

If the stock market and your clients’ declining 401(k) balances are making them feel like they’ll never be able to fully retire or become financially stable, they’re not alone.

A lot of solo advisory practices are going to start looking for ways to add scale, but what are the risks and how can you get started?

Two industry veterans have struck out on their own to start a new fixed income broker-dealer firm.

The operations chief for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities and his personal assistant are petitioning a New York court to be released from jail.

Policymakers' focus on capital may be creating a false sense of security, and it may be overshadowing other, equally important issues that are central to preventing the next crisis.

The independent securities regulator has put to rest an eight-year-old dispute, finding no violations in Citigroup’s advisor recruitment from Oppenheimer.

Baby boomers are happy about everything – except for retirement, according to a new TD Waterhouse poll.

It is pretty accepted that our practices are best grown through referrals, and that beyond our clients it is important to cultivate centers of influence such as CPA’s and estate attorneys.

The panel’s decision also sent a signal to broker-dealers that financial advisors should perform much more thorough due diligence on the soundness of companies issuing certain securities before allowing investors to participate in risky investments.

With expectations so low, plan sponsors are looking for assistance from retirement plan service providers.

Legacy replacement, mobile applications and better use of analytics are among the issues confronting insurers.

The administration is expected to unveil this month a reform package that charts a course for the housing finance system. But it remains unclear how detailed the administration plans to be.