Practice management

Every firm needs to determine the unique compensation plan that will work best for executives, staff and clients. These guidelines should help you get started.

Most of the new arrivals are employees of larger financial service companies, said president Scott Curtis, and about 25% are already independents.

FINRA CEO Richard Ketchum praised one SEC commissioner for floating a new proposal to beef up examinations of the RIA industry independently of Congress.

The firm lures three separate teams who manage a total of more than $500 million in client assets.

Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association president and chief executive officer Kenneth Bentsen criticized recent efforts by the Securities and Exchange Commission to further regulate the muni market, telling issuer officials on Tuesday that a new rule and initiative could undermine productive relationships between municipalities and underwriters.

UBS grabbed a former Merrill Lynch advisor who managed $500 million in client assets.

When plans for an external sale faltered, Quest Capital Management looked closer to home and found a better solution. Here's what the partners learned.

Just a day after a top SEC official hinted at discord within the commission about an expansion of fiduciary rules to include brokers, a voting member of the agency spoke out in opposition to the proposal, at least until supporters can build a stronger case.

The contentious issue of harmonizing fiduciary responsibilities remains high on the agency's to-do list, though a timeframe for when a proposal might materialize is far from certain.

Here's a snapshot of the best ideas to come out of this year's conference.

In seeking the helping hand of clients in finding new business, avoid being systematic or aggressive. Instead, make gentle, routine requests for help.

Two of the three brokers banned were registered with JP Morgan Securities. The other was with HSBC Securities.

FINRA pledges more vigorous enforcement while at the same time dropping an information submission requirement for brokers from the controversial proposed data-collection program known as CARDS.

Benjamin F. Edwards snapped up four advisors from Wells Fargo and opened a new office in Pensacola, Fla.

Formerly affiliated with MassMutual Financial Group, Joe Esposito and Keith Kiker will bring more than $150 million in client assets to Commonwealth.

With Credit Suisse Group AG poised to become the first bank in more than a decade to admit to a crime in the U.S., regulators have been reaching out to some of the firm’s biggest business partners to avert a panic, according to a person briefed on those communications.

Planners gathered in Salt Lake City last week for NAPFA's annual spring conference, hearing the latest thinking on behavioral finance, student debt, practice management and more. Here are a few of the smartest things that Financial Planning's staff and contributors heard at the conference.

As clients live longer, they're looking to advisors for ways to boost retirement income. Here are three strategies to consider.

The board offered individual counsel to NAPFA members in violation of board rules, an ongoing conflict without imminent resolution.

In a presentation on emotion and financial behavior, a planner calls out 10 'money scripts' that may be affecting your clients. Here's what to look for.