Practice management

The best elevator speech starts with why you do what you do and briefly covers what you do and whom you serve best. Beyond that, Matt Matrisian suggests advisors expand their thinking to create an effective conversation.

For all the hype surrounding social media sites as the next great marketing channel for advisors, a panel of industry leaders warned that the jury is still out on what role tools like Facebook and Twitter will ultimately play in financial-services firms.

The Chicago-based platform provider and outsourcing firm unveiled Envestnet Intelligence, a new content and analytic offering for advisors at its annual Advisor Summit conference in Chicago.

Women and men are equally likely to save for retirement and almost as likely to calculate how much they’ll need.

Legislation that would streamline the registration process for broker-dealers and advisors in Florida is one step closer to becoming law, with the state senate following the lower chamber in voting to approve the measure, which now awaits the governor's signature.

Old assumptions about referrals are mostly wrong, Julie Littlechild told advisors. Here are some of the myths that need busting -- plus four good ways to stimulate referrals.

The Securities and Exchange Commission named Andrew J. Bowden director of its national exam program, replacing Carlo V. di Florio who is leaving next month to join the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

SEC chairman Mary Jo White made no comment Friday on what new reforms for the money market fund industry will come out of her administration, except that its proposal will be “appropriate and balanced.”

The human side of financial planning has been somewhat overlooked among some advisors who have tended to limit their interactions with clients to providing financial advice. The high-touch approach could become a "growing market niche" for advisors.

It’s human nature to size up people and businesses based on what we see and experience during our interactions with them online, in print, or face-to-face. Advisors should use branding to communicate their core values, differentiate themselves from competitors, and reinforce that their products and services are the ones best suited to meet client needs.

Client advisory boards are a great way to get clients and advocates even more engaged in supporting the business. If you are considering developing an advisory board, here are some points to consider from blogger Ken Haman.

There's a big difference between succession-planning practice sales and other kinds of deal activity, advisors learned during a succession-planning panel Wednesday.

Balances in small business retirement plans have increased an average of 20 percent between 2007 and 2012 in the aftermath of the recession.

From athletes who abuse illegal substances in order to win to business executives who lie on financial statements to boost profitability, examples of cheating are all around.

The new trust office in Wilmington will provide personal trust services for high-net-worth clients with more than $1 million in investable assets.

FINRA has named a senior Treasury Department official to serve as the group's first chief economist.

"You must ask everyone who comes into your office: Do you have a health problem?" estate planner and Financial Planning contributor Martin Shenkman cautioned. "If you don't ask, they are not going to tell."

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is recommending that policymakers implement a nationwide financial education program into grade school as well as standardized tests.

Wealth managers need to upgrade their strategies for working with clients coping with grief or risk losing them to other advisors.

People usually don't change after you hire them, so make sure their strengths are a good fit for the job.