Wealth management

Potential tax increases influence timing and structure of gifts but not so much the amount, according to Bank of America’s study of High Net Worth Philanthropy

Abraham Lincoln is one of the most notable examples of someone dying without a will. This begs the question, what happened to Lincoln’s estate after he died?

With the impending fiscal cliff only weeks away, Washington still has not reached a compromise. Yet a recent Gallup survey found that eight in 10 Americans consider achieving resolution to avoid the fiscal cliff extremely or very important. For businesses and individuals, this means a difficult task in year-end tax planning.

Billionaire investors Warren Buffett and George Soros are calling on Congress to increase the estate tax as lawmakers near a decision on tax policies that expire Dec. 31.

The end of the year is a time that is dominated by goal setting and making projections. While this is an important process for advisors and clients alike as they head into the New Year, many plan and set goals the wrong way.

Gen Y clients may have high standards and a different way of doing business, but they may also very well become the clients who will sustain an advisor’s company. For one, these younger consumers have more capital invested in the stock market through retirement savings plans than any prior generation did at the same age, according to Vanguard Investment Counseling & Research Group.

Armed with new executives and a new partnership with an RIA, the online wealth advisory and lead generation firm for advisors, is thinking expansion.

Determined to keep its 48-year-old firm’s “small, hometown feel,” Investors Security of Suffolk, Va., has decided to drop its own broker-dealer and affiliate with Securities America.

Starting Dec. 31, U.K. advisors will be required to make changes in their practice based on new regulations. These rules, which deal with the advice given and the way advisors charge, have not been implemented in the U.S. yet, but leading advisors should consider applying the changes to their own businesses.

Baird's director of estate planning reminds clients that just because they can make large tax-free gifts this year, doesn’t mean they should.

Getting introductions from current clients is the most important way to generate new clients, but too many advisors do not regularly reach out to their clients to ask for these crucial introductions. How can you make it happen.

Some planners offer all of their clients concierge services, while others help only top clients with special projects. No matter the details, concierge services help advisors strengthen existing client relationships and attract new ones.

Five years ago, only about 15% of new clients came in over the transom, says the chief executive of one leading RIA. Today, that number has grown to 25% to 35% -- with many of those prospects specifically looking for independent advice.

In an industry where everyone seems to have an opinion, these financial services veterans have learned to leverage Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media to their advantage.

With high levels of volatility in the markets and a financial environment that remains risk-adverse, lower returns on traditional financial investments are driving more high-net-worth clients toward niche alternatives. Independent television documentary director Elena Mannes highlights some of these exotic assets – including trees and violins – and the underlying risk their attractive returns hold.

In the RIA space, rapid consolidation is driving firms to merge, acquire and seek larger partners. In 10 to 20 years, many predict a series of giant $100 billion-AUM firms will emerge to dominate the market. So what does the future hold for smaller firms?

Brinton Eaton, a Madison, N.J., based wealth manager with $700 million in assets under management, has joined Chicago-based Mariner Wealth Advisors, bringing the latter’s AUM to $6.3 billion.

Upon completion of the addition of two West Coast advisories by the end of 2012, hybrid RIA Washington Wealth Management will reach over $1 billion in recruited assets under management, representing a 900% increase since December 2011.

With RIA balance sheets healthier, banks once again are taking an interest in RIAs, which are growing as much as 50% more rapidly than wirehouses.

“[A] segment of wealth managers appear to live in denial, clinging to investment methodologies that have patently failed twice over the past decade and are likely to fall short again,” the authors of a white paper accompanying the survey results wrote.