Practice management

Read any number of studies, or just glance around most industry conferences and you'll see it: Women make up a noticeable minority of the financial advisory community. The CFP Board is trying to do something about it.

Amid intense competition for high-net-worth clients, the Private Client Reserve is ramping up its marketing efforts to differentiate itself from rivals.

The difference shows up in profits margins, return on equity and a variety of other financial measures, according to the research findings, according to Eve Ellis, a financial advisor with the Matterhorn Group at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. She says companies with significant female representation on boards and in senior leadership positions have stronger financials than those that do not.

The economic recession may have sparked a retirement crisis in America, but other significant derailers have also played a role.

Coupling up, in the business sense, can increase income by 32% or even more, according to a recent Fidelity study.

Baird has bolstered its advisor force with two wirehouse teams with $800 million in assets.

The Securities America move underscored the intensity with which advisory firms are competing for talent, executive search experts said.

How will you scale your practice? What's the secret to retaining Gen Y employees? What's the best way to network? For three days, advisors and industry experts descended on Las Vegas for the semi-annual National Association of Personal Financial Advisors conference to discuss these topics and many others. Check out some of the best things we heard.

So you've met a great prospect or received a great introduction. What's next? Bill Cates offers dos (and don'ts) for what to say when you call your new prospects.

Rocco Carriero, an Ameriprise Financial advisor, warns investors to focus on strategy and asset allocation as opposed to being blinded by volatility.

Any firm that wants to grow needs to consider how to best manage one of its key assets—its people. Unfortunately, Matt Matirisian reminds us, although most advisors are great entrepreneurs and visionaries, they are not necessarily good people managers.

Securities regulators are reviewing a proposal that would require the riskiest money-market mutual funds to adopt a floating share price, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The firm scored particularly well in clients’ feelings of their investment advisors, account information and investment performance, according to a J.D Power study.

Reports that aging clients may not be able to make sound financial decisions because of declining cognitive skills may be overstated, said Laura Carstensen, professor of psychology and head of Stanford University’s Center on Longevity.

A new study attempts to quantify the very real effect that low interest rates and muted yields in certain asset classes could have on investors' retirement planning.

Technology innovations are critical for advisors to remain on the cutting edge and retain the next generation of clients.

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, millions of Americans are shopping for flowers and gifts. But some advisors may want to offer female clients something more substantive: financial security.

“This is not an easy business,” Carson told an audience on Thursday of over 500 advisors at the 24th Peak Excell Meeting. “It is a rewarding but difficult business … and we have to constantly reinvest and reinvent.”

Want a technology investment with a real payoff? Steer clear of hot Internet stocks. Instead, make a technology investment in your own practice.

For solo practitioners, who's got your back? Here's how one group of RIAs decided to support each other.