Practice management

Many financial advisors become so entrenched in the daily routine of responsibility, duties and heavy workloads that they fail to adequately plan for the ongoing success of their business. As we turn the corner from this year to the next, marketing expert Marie Swift invites you to take a “planning break” with specific exercises to determine laser-focused goals and a viable plan of attack.

The Women Advisors Forum, an online social network for female financial advisors, ushered in its 1000th member when Jennifer Riek joined the community Monday.

While more than a third of Baby Boomers said they expect Social Security to be a major source of income in retirement, nearly 40% were not confident that the system will have money to pay benefits throughout their retirement, according to a recent survey by MFS Investment Management.

High-net-worth individuals nationally are less tolerant about an adverse economy compared to their global counterparts, according to a research report by Barclays Wealth.

Almost one-third of adults who would like to retire do not know if they could and further do not believe they would ever be able to retire, with women more unsure than men.

Beacon Pointe Wealth Advisors announced the addition of its third advisor partner, $130 million AUM RIA Wealth Management Network of Newport Beach, Calif. today. This marks the third deal in the last year and a half for national advisory partnership firm BPWA.

A circuit court judge in Virginia dismissed a suit that charged BNY Mellon with overcharging the state’s pension fund for foreign exchange transactions. The dismissal came after the Virginia Retirement Systems announced a renewal of a services contract with BNY Mellon.

The fiscal cliff. Deteriorating fundamentals. Volatility. Is the market about to fall? No one knows, but we know it is just a matter of time. How will you keep your clients happy when the next bear market comes?

So, you are working in a wirehouse now, how does independence look for you if you launch your own RIA?

Just as the cobbler's children go without shoes, two-thirds of independent advisors ignore succession planning. Such advisors could fall into an “annuity trap,” watching the value of their business degrade as they near the exit from their practice.

President Obama said Friday he is asking the bipartisan leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives to come to the White House next week to begin negotiations to avert a set of tax increases and spending cuts that will automatically take effect in January if Congress fails to act.

It may be some time before Congress and the Obama administration decide what to do about the tax rates for next year, so it’s a good idea to plan for various alternative scenarios just in case.

With the election over, when members of Congress return to Washington next week, the task awaiting them will be to hammer out what has been an elusive compromise on taxes and expenditures to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, a combination of tax increases and deep spending cuts set to take effect in January should lawmakers fail to act.

“Advisors talk about Black Swan events and tail risk – you didn’t hear retail planners talking about tail risk 10 years ago, or if you did it was the top 1% of the group. Now, it’s the new nomenclature,” said Jeff Montgomery, head of AFAM/Innealta Capital.

56% said that it is “challenging” to “very challenging” to discuss such information.

Among investors aged 21 to 50, 72% report that saving for retirement is their top financial goal, a priority applauded by T. Rowe Price’s resident retirement guru, senior financial planner Christine Fahlund, but most investors are unwilling to take on the necessary risk to improve their retirement savings.

PIEtech, Inc., maker of the popular planning software product MoneyGuidePro, has settled a patent infringement lawsuit brought against it and UBS Financial Services by its competitor, Wealthcare Capital Management.

Benjamin Franklin said, “Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” Franklin was right. While it may seem obvious that business growth is central to any advisor’s ultimate success, in today’s highly complex and competitive marketplace, the importance of growth cannot be overstated.

Expect more financial regulatory changes, Schwab executives suggested Thursday -- and be wary of a new recession if Congress and the new administration don’t take steps to keep the country from going all the way over the so-called fiscal cliff

President Barack Obama’s re-election means his administration will push to let tax cuts enacted during the George W. Bush era expire for high earners, as scheduled, at year-end. Obama wants to increase the top federal income tax rate to 39.6 percent from 35 percent, boost rates on long-term capital gains to as much as 23.8 percent, and shrink exemptions from estate-and-gift taxes.