Sales and marketing

For financial advisory firms, branding can be a balancing act between the strength of individual advisor’s brand and the larger, unified brand of the firm.

Same-sex and divorced couples can be a profitable niche for advisors, if they know how to market.

Amid intense competition for high-net-worth clients, the Private Client Reserve is ramping up its marketing efforts to differentiate itself from rivals.

Bank customers are staying away in droves as they do more business online. Here's what advisors can do to combat lighter foot traffic at the branch.

Managing staff isn't easy. People don't change and you can't change someone either before or after you've hired them.

Twenty- and thirty-somethings take investing cues from their parents, and advisors need to reach them by phone or have face-to-face contact, according to a survey.

This year's top branch managers found a way to succeed during the most challenging times.

“To build online influence in the age of social media, you must build a powerful online presence and consistently publish your thought leadership insights through a professional blog site,” says Stephanie Sammons, founder of Wired Advisor, a company that helps advisors set up search engine optimized blogs.

When looking to spread the word about mutual funds and other investment strategies to Generation Y Investors, financial services firms should consider new media, according to Cambridge, Mass.-based consulting firm Cogent Research.

Keep new leads coming in by branding yourself as a transition specialist.

Advizent, the would-be marketing and branding consortium for independent advisors, closed down Thursday, one year after its ambitious launch by industry heavyweights Steve Lockshin and Charles Goldman.

Why is branding so important and how can you build a stronger brand?

Think referrals and cross-selling are tough at your bank? Read how wealth management advisor and financial planner Heidi Schmidt handles them at Internet bank USAA Federal Savings.

Smaller banks cannot afford to support high-density branch networks as economic challenges persist.

Why banks focus more and more on affluent clients — and why they may miss mom and pop investors more than they think.

Improve your practice by drilling down on your innate skills.

Less than half of Gen X consumers (46%) selected retirement as their top reason for saving, with vacation and travel the top choice for 38% of this demographic group.

You have a minute to explain to a busy prosepective client why your firm deserves the business.

To lure advisors away from their desks for a few days, conferences need to offer more than they do now. Here are a few ideas to deliver a lot more value.

Risk tolerance and a growing taste for equities help the January index climb back after two straight declines.