Wealth management

Technical malfunctions at stock exchanges around the world are putting their owners’ credit ratings in jeopardy, according to Standard & Poor’s.

Culture clash between merging firms can mean the end of even a well-planned deal.

Think you might be bored at your kids' birthday party? Think again. Dave Grant shares three business lessons he learned at his son's recent party.

Exclusive: Widespread abuse of the term raises question of a disciplinary double-standard.

Low rates and longer lives make the conventional wisdom of 4% withdrawal rates obsolete.

Financial services firms have to start recruiting the half-million college students who may be interested in becoming advisors, or risk having demand for financial advice outstrip supply within ten years, a new study from Pershing shows.

At a time when recruiting is down across the independent broker-dealer space, Cetera Financial Group has added 247 net new advisors nationwide between Jan. 1 and June 30, 2013.

These investment strategists say they believe the emerging economies in the world are where equity opportunities are to be found.

The Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance and streamlined procedures for spouses who are seeking equitable relief from joint income tax liability.

As desktop publishing has become less and less expensive and more advisors are building brochures to advertise their practices, marketing organizations are encouraging teams to articulate their value proposition to the marketplace. Here are two glaring errors that advisors must avoid.

With heavyweights like PIMCO throwing its hat into the managed futures mutual fund ring, interest in this investment vehicle appears to be rising.

Many banks are at a crossroads now on whether to stay independent or sell—but for those banks that raised money to buy others, the pace of consolidation has been a drag.

New York, California and Texas will be ground zero for Fiera Capital, the $71 billion Canadian investment manager that is hoping to crack the top tier of the U.S. private wealth market.

In a Q&A with Financial Planning five scholarship winners – and next generation planners – share their views on the industry opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

There have been 16 straight weeks of outflows from muni bond funds, to the tune of $26.4 billion, and industry watchers do not expect flows to bounce back anytime soon.

The IRS is providing guidance on the application of the market reform provisions of the Affordable Care Act to health care arrangements such as health reimbursement arrangements, employer payment plans and flexible spending accounts.

“To have a national brand, you have to have a client experience that can be duplicated in every location, like Starbucks," says Rudy Adolf, CEO of Focus Financial Partners. "No advisory firm has the ability to deliver this kind of promise," he says.

Developed economies are turning into global growth engines as some emerging-market counterparts decelerate.

Umpqua Holdings' agreement to buy Sterling Financial is the latest in a series of deals this year to pair similarly sized banks, creating a new crop of midsize financial institutions.

For almost nine years, the firm has been lending to companies with ratings in the B to BB+ range, below the investment-grade threshold, the employee claims.