Practice management

Many financial service firms are targeting women as their economic power increases. The best way to market your practice to any demographic is by providing high-quality services. However, it is also prudent to have a marketing strategy that speaks to your ideal clients and clearly articulates how these clients can benefit from hiring your firm.

Rapidly changing technology offers new ways for advisors to connect with clients. That makes it an exciting time to be in business, but it also means it’s critical for advisors to adapt.

Make a better first impression: In an increasingly digital age, there’s no excuse for ignoring one of the most important tools you have.

House Republicans plan to vote Jan. 23 on a three-month extension of U.S. borrowing authority in an effort to force the Democratic-led Senate to adopt a budget plan.

You’re more than halfway through a month of working on your practice. Today, your task is simple -- and hopefully it will renew you for the remaining tips to come.

If you want to keep them on track, forget nitty-gritty details and focus on these six major themes.

Coaching and consulting hundreds of advisors over the years has allowed Ron Carson to see several industry trends and lump advisors together into various buckets. One of these “buckets” is advisors who view human capital, technology, office space, coaching programs, etc., as an investment versus a cost. Advisors who view these areas as costs tend to experience less success and grow their business at a slower rate.

Want to know whether a stock is a buy, sell, or hold? Investors and advisors can find out quickly by glancing at their iPhone.

Wealth manager Peter J. Eichler Jr., once had more than $10 billion in assets under management. Following his RIA’s bankruptcy filing in November, however, the SEC has filed a lawsuit against Eichler and Aletheia Research and Management for alleged securities fraud and for allegedly violating fiduciary duties to clients and to the funds Aletheia managed.

The group that emerged as the most committed to saving for retirement was the one identified as “Generation DC,” or those under the age of 25.

It would be impossible to plan for the succession of your practice in one day, but that doesn’t mean we’ll ignore it in our daily tips. After all, you have to start somewhere.

As regulators continue their work implementing the numerous provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, a leading Wall Street trade group is hoping that 2013 will see movement on the controversial effort to implement a uniform fiduciary duty for investment advisors and broker-dealers when providing personalized advice to retail clients.

As your practice expands, you inevitably take on new roles and responsibilities. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any growing pains.

When people hear “financial planning” or “retirement income,” they tune out. Try using “lifestyle design” instead to get their attention.

Who wins when advisors leave wirehouses? Just about everyone.

A rise in schemes targeting advisors has prompted the SEC to seek new protections. But it’s not clear how far the proposed rules would go.

An article on the topic Tuesday generated a lot of buzz on Twitter and resulted in an interesting discussion about best practices for financial advisors when communicating with wealthier clients.

You’re a financial advisor, not a technology expert -- or at least you shouldn’t have to be. But you and your staff need to feel comfortable with the technology platforms that are vital to your practice.

A new generation of business students will soon be trained in investment and wealth management skills at a new Charles Schwab Trading and Technology Lab at the University of California at Irvine. The lab wilkl be the cornerstone of a new 78,000-square-foot building to be built within the University's Paul Merage School of Business.

A proposal to tighten regulation of foreign banks in the U.S. would also significantly expand the central bank's oversight of foreign broker-dealers, effectively snatching supervisory responsibility from the SEC.