Practice management

One critical theme running through the third annual Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago focused on how life planning is critical for advisors that want to help clients plan for retirement.

Rick Kahler of the Kahler Financial Group said at the Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago on Monday that when planners discuss money with clients, they have to be careful because when they hit a “fear trigger,” clients may get overwhelmed and shut down without the planner realizing it.

Twenty-six percent of those between 45 and 54 are worried about having to work longer. Overall, 19% dread having to rely on others for support, and among those 18 to 34 years old, this fear rises to 34%.

The SEC will vote on raising the threshold for registration from $25 million to $100 million.

Advisors may want to heed stats noting that Android and iPhone are crushing BlackBerry when it comes to business use and app development.

How an advisor frames the discussion will determine client decision-making, said Brian Gaffney, CEO of Allianz Global Investors Distributors, and luncheon keynote at the Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago on Monday.

Helping clients understand who they really are can improve their financial results, said Hugh Massie, founder of Financial DNA, during a talk at the Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago on Monday.

The wide availability of data in the media and on the Internet has not made the decision of how to plan for retirement any easier, said Timothy Noonan, managing director at Russell Investments, during the keynote address at the Financial Behavior in Retirement Summit in Chicago Monday.

Ninety-two percent of wealthy investors are actively looking for market opportunities, according to a U.S. Bank survey.

The Philadelphia wealth manager hired Susan P. Mucciarone as a senior vice president and director of wealth services.

UBS named Karl Ruppert as the director of a complex with 66 advisors and $5.3 billion of assets.

More IT spending will shift its strategic use to better understand customers and markets, boost sales opportunities, survey says.

Considered to be a deal broker and careful listener by those who have worked with him in the past, Joseph Smith won near-universal acclaim as Obama's pick to lead the FHFA.

“We are planning for the worst case scenario,” Robert Glovsky, the board’s chairman, said in an interview Friday. “We are worried that there will be fallout and we are planning accordingly.”

There isn’t much positive movement now in either recruitment or compensation, but a reviving market should change all that next year, Russell Reynolds predicts.

Approach with caution though, Spectrem says, as 46% of ultra-rich individuals say they feel they could manage their investments better than a professional.

The SEC should rein in the ABA's CUSIP Service Bureau and prevent it from charging financial market participants unreasonable and unwarranted fees, say three trade groups.

The central bank aims to send an encouraging sign to investors: the economy is stable and the giant banks are safe. It's a gamble with some downsides.

There is an extra wrinkle of complexity this year as the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year. Many members of Congress have expressed support for extending these tax cuts to some, if not all, taxpayers either temporarily or permanently. Without Congressional action, tax rates will rise to as high as 39.6% on ordinary income and 20% on capital gains.

Industry groups are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to reject a proposal from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to provide it with an additional $17 million in revenue annually by nearly doubling the amount of transaction fees it collects from dealers.