Practice management

Schwab services 16,000 RIAs with 2,000 different fee structures. According to the industry's largest custodian, the exact costs come down to "a very personalized negotiation" with the firms.

For our Know Your Niche series, Steve Mason, with Bank of America's Private Bank, has developed a client base out of horse lovers like himself.

Parents who don't effectively communicate estate plans to their children set them up to fail financially, emotionally and relationally.

Matthew Pallai said he has no doubt wealth managers explained the risks of private credit when recommending it to clients, but the recent rush to withdraw money from credit funds suggests "they probably should have said it more often and said it louder."

Court decisions vacated the Biden administration's DOL rule — but that didn't make rollover rules easy, experts say. Firms that get compliance right will have an edge in tapping a trillion-dollar-plus market.

A well-planned retirement can go awry when clients overspend. Here's how financial advisors can rein them in.

Jess Polito of Turkey Hill Management says she believes her firm is the only M&A advisory firm that exclusively uses retainer fees, rather than commissions.

A consulting and M&A advisory firm presented six prospective sellers to 17 buyers, with striking results for any advisory teams tapping into a frothy M&A market.

The annual Diamond Consultants advisor transition tracking study identified the winners and losers of 2025. But it also noted how quickly things can change.

Compensation differences between wirehouses and regional firms become pronounced at the $2 million production level, with regionals rising to the top of the pay scale and wirehouses grouping together at the bottom.

When it comes to compensation, firms really start to distinguish themselves at the $1 million production level. Janney has become one of the lower payers in recent years, while RBC and UBS have signaled a greater willingness to work with these advisors.

Advisors acting as financial planning sherpas can guide clients up tricky terrain to reach retirement peaks.

Behavioral finance expert Tim Maurer shares how planners can adjust their language and approach to help clients move toward their goals.

For advisors with $600,000 in annual production, regional firms like Janney and RBC have been reducing their compensation in recent years. They're now more in line with the pay policies more commonly found at large Wall Street firms.

Finance and education veteran Walter Rendon wants to ensure that more young people get the training and mentorships that helped him break into the field.

Most "regional firms" still have fairly generous compensation for advisors at the low end of revenue production. But at Janney and RBC, the pay rates are lower and much closer to those of large Wall Street firms.

Traditionally, regional firms were places where advisors with mid-level revenue production could find comfortable homes. Janney and RBC show how that's changing.

For wealth management firms, organic growth is often tied directly to marketing.

For advisors like Chris Diodato of WELLth Financial Planning, everything from insurance to industry software is costing more these days.

It can be hard for advisors to fully understand what clients and prospects truly want. The right questions can uncover not just financial blind spots, but the fears, priorities and assumptions behind their decisions.