Practice management

A winning marketing strategy takes more than understanding your target market, creating a value proposition that will attract ideal clients, communicating well, and delivering on your promises. It takes courage. That's one reason why so few business owners, including financial advisors, are effective marketers.

A Nationwide Financial survey found that 42% of advisors have clients who are asking about giving away all of their money to their children as a means of financial planning.

U.S. lawmakers and lobbyists who once backed repeal of the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act are now pushing for technical fixes to the law, and they’re getting a skeptical reception from the measure’s advocates.

Maximizing consistency, minimizing expenses, articulating a clear value proposition and strong peer collaboration are essential for successful wealth advisors.

When Atlanta-based Ronald Blue & Co., one of the country's largest RIAs, was building its internal succession plan, the company’s CEO hit upon a necessary precondition. “You have to have a mission that’s compelling enough to make sure that your clients are taken care of after you are gone,” says Russ Crosson, the company’s president and CEO. “The firm is bigger than any one individual.”

FINRA announced Saturday that it will seek comment in a regulatory notice on the proposed mandatory disclosure of bonuses.

Nearly half (48%) expect to retire with debt, primarily mortgage payments followed by credit cards, car payments and student loans.

While the U.S. Congress views the convergence of more than $600 billion in tax increases and spending cuts set for Jan. 1 as a “fiscal cliff,” the metaphor misses the economic reality of what could follow.

As the week winds down with lawmakers and the White House still at odds over dueling proposals to avert the fiscal cliff, a growing number of voices in the debate are suggesting that the year-end deadline could pass without a deal, initiating a set of across-the-board tax increases and automatic spending cuts.

With 20% of wealthy investors under age 55 planning to change their primary advisor in the next 12 months, tech enhancements may be the difference between acquiring or losing clients.

Americans 55 and older are far more likely to favor peace of mind over a high-reward/high-risk investment strategy.

Some of the most surprising results from the 2012 Tech Survey came from a deeper dive into smartphone use patterns of our readers.

Assets managed by multiple family offices increased 68% between 2007 and 2011 to $777.3 billion, according to Cerulli Associates, a Boston-based global research firm.

A top White House official reiterated on Tuesday that President Obama is committed to the 28% cap on the value of tax exemptions for high income earners, which includes municipal bond interest.

If the government decreases social security and other benefits as a way to avoid the cliff, middle class Americans could be hit the hardest.

Year-end plan reviews are the perfect time to demonstrate your value and address any concerns your plan sponsor clients may have, Bob Kaplan, ING U.S.’s National Retirement Consultant, told advisors during a webinar.

To foster the evolution of financial planning as a widely accepted and understood profession, NAPFA announced that, starting Jan. 1, it will only accept the CFP designation for anyone applying to become NAPFA-registered planners

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management has added eight financial advisors from rival firms Merrill Lynch and Barclays.

The new platform will allow advisors to spend less time managing regulatory and compliance issues, and more time growing their businesses.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she would try to use a procedure known as a discharge petition to bring a Senate-passed bill for extending the middle-class tax cuts to the floor of the House.