Practice management

Twenty-five percent of the 33 million U.S. pre-retirees, surveyed by LIMRA, said they felt “very prepared” for retirement, down from 30% of those surveyed in 2010.

To streamline document processing, LPL Financial has introduced DocuSign’s eSignature solution for all of its advisors.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro is leaving the agency, after helping turn around its tarnished reputation in the wake of the financial crisis.

For every household with more than $250,000 in assets in an advisor’s book, predicted future annual revenue is expected to increase by $1,650.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has initiated cease-and-desist proceedings against a New York-based advisor for submitting false information on a registration form in a bid to duck its regulatory obligations with state authorities.

UBS AG was fined 29.7 million pounds ($47.6 million) by the U.K. and told by the Swiss that it may have to increase capital levels for operational risks as regulators levied penalties after Kweku Adoboli’s $2.3 billion trading loss.

SAC Capital Advisors LP is seeking to calm investor concern about founder Steven A. Cohen’s trading in two drug stocks and possible regulatory sanctions after prosecutors for the first time tied Cohen to a specific transaction at the center of an insider-trading investigation.

It’s a well-worn a cliché, mostly used in association with professional team sports and meant to convey a cutthroat but fundamental reality: You’re only as good as your last game. It may be harsh, but such is the nature of professional sports, a world where high-stakes games are played by extremely wealthy, though frequently unsophisticated young men who all too often have a meteoric rise to stardom, only to have it be accompanied by a sudden, abrupt fall from grace.

UBS Wealth Management Americas has snagged a Merrill Lynch team in Cincinnati with more than $1 billion in client assets under management.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke Tuesday said the Fed cannot single-handedly neutralize the impact of the so-called fiscal cliff that the economy may tumble over come January 1.

National Advisors Trust has launched an upgraded version of AdvisorDesk, the firm’s proprietary multi-custodian technology platform.

Franklin Templeton Investments announced a new tool for advisors to create hypothetical portfolio presentations for their clients.

Robert W. Baird & Co. has hired veteran financial advisor Baron C. Becker from Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Portland, Maine.

Most Americans, particularly women, are woefully underprepared for retirement, with four out of 10 women having less than $10,000 saved, and only 21 percent having more than $100,000 in all of their investment accounts, according to research from Mintel.

Charles Schwab has announced yet another product for companies to improve their business operations.

Advisor Impact, a client feedback consulting firm, and Focus Partners, an advisor coaching firm, announced today they are joining forces to offer Advisor Impact clients coaching in addition to its Client Audit Program.

Most Medicare enrollees will pay 5% more for Part B in 2013. Considering that the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for next year will be 1.7%, advisors can see that seniors’ medical costs are rising faster than the overall inflation.

The financial planning world has a serious problem. There are not enough financial advisors being trained and coming through normal channels to replace all those advisors who want to retire and sell their practices. If you are a buyer, well things are about to get really good. There will be a lot, again, a lot of practices up for sale.

It is absolutely impossible for a client with a fundamental fear of the future to become a successful investor, or even to formulate a rational long-term financial plan.

Wells Fargo has extended its summer hiring spree with 24 new financial advisor hires managing a total of $2.2 billion in assets.