Practice management

Now is the time for a balanced approach to both equities and fixed income, MFS advises.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged two hedge fund portfolio managers and their investment advisory businesses with defrauding investors by overvaluing illiquid fund assets they placed in a "side pocket."

Broker-dealers who are sponsoring their customers' direct access to securities markets need to face a "higher level of accountability with respect to the algorithms they use,'' according to their chief regulator.

Its never too early to begin helping clients prepare for the 2011 tax season. It will become even more so as the Bush tax cuts come to an end on Dec. 31.

“Advisors need systems in order to accomplish their goals, whether you’re a large firm or a one-man team,” said Craig Snyder, one of LPL's top managers. “You need to track your activity so you can see what else you need to do to maximize your return on investment.”

Just 11.2% of private-sector establishments offer health benefits to early retirees.

Four former Financial Industry Regulatory Authority officials who left the agency in 2008 each received between $2.74 million and $4.43 million in reportable compensation and benefits that year, according to the latest form the nonprofit self-regulator filed with the Internal Revenue Service.

When the bill was signed into law by President Obama in July, an era marked by a flood of federal investigations sparked by bounty-hunting employees looking to cash in on rewards that, in some cases, could turn them into instant millionaires began.

Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of mortgage lender Countrywide Financial, has agreed to pay $22.5 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission, the largest-ever financial penalty for a public company senior executive.

The number of advisors the firm transitioned may have fallen in the first nine months of this year, but the assets they brought over are higher.

Disgruntled by big-firm groupthink, Erwin, Martin and Rexius set up Sapient as an RIA in Eugene, Ore.

Nanex challenges SEC report that points to Waddell & Reed.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said Wednesday the growing robo-signing scandal was symptomatic of the poor incentives that marred the securitization market, but she opposed a universal freeze on foreclosures.

New York firm investigates arbitration claims as independent broker-dealer undergoes hearings on Massachusetts charges

Prospects are spending more time online. Isn’t it time you had a Website that meets their needs?

The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a new rule, based on requirements under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, that would help those managing their own family's financial portfolios determine whether their “family offices” can continue to be excluded from the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

New York watchdog Andrew Cuomo has nabbed another firm for allegedly bartering investment deals with the state pension funds without a required securities license.

How to fire clients you don’t like working with, impose higher account minimums and make centers of influence work for you.

Three months after the regulatory reform bill ordered the OTS' elimination over the next year, efforts to bring the agency into the OCC fold have been plagued with bitterness, communication problems, unease on job placement and rampant conflicts.

Financial planners and investment advisors are moving broadly and quickly to adopt the Windows 7 operating system for their personal computers as well as the Apple iPad for their personal use, according to preliminary results of the 2010 Software Survey released Sunday at the Financial Planning Association's annual conference by Financial Planning magazine and virtual office consultant Joel Bruckenstein.