Wealth management

Advisors and executives from across the financial industry descended on Chicago for the 2012 NAPFA National Conference. Check out some of the images from the event from our correspondent, Mike Byrnes.

Botsford Group specializes in asset protection strategies, and manages clients’ investing through its proprietary Lifestyle Driven Investing approach.

Investors are as satisfied with full-service investment firms as they were before the recession, but client expectations have spiked, according to a J.D. Power and Associates study. Which firms are investors most satisfied with?

For bank reps looking to advance their careers, there’s no better news than a promotion or a job offer that’s too good to refuse. Here’s a sampling of bank reps who were recently promoted or moved to new organizations to assume roles of greater responsibility. Also check out other executive changes from inside the channel.

Younger members of ultra-wealthy households are grappling with their forebears for a say in wealth planning, and women are concerned about how money affects their relationships.

The new platform, introduced by Beverly Hills Wealth Management, enables RIAs and advisors to streamline access and usage of cloud-based service applications and IT security

Launched in October, Cetera’s Mutual Funds/Exchange Traded Funds Advisory program allows advisors to assemble portfolios of investments from three diverse strategists in a single customer account.

The Women Advisors Forum on March 13 in Boca Raton, Fla., marked the first of a tour of six events around the country this year. The event included new sessions on winning strategies to build business, how to work with widows and preparing clients for decumulation. Most of all, the forum provided an opportunity to network. Check out these photos for some of the day's highlights.

RIAs who use the combined service will be able to pull up daily client balance, holding and transactional data through ByAllAccounts, plus the reporting capabilities of Portfolio Pathway

Meet the 2012 Top 20 Program Managers. We considered four factors in this year’s ranking: growth in team production; growth in team assets; average production per advisor and number of FAs the manager oversees. Our next issue will include all the data points as well as bios. In the meantime, enjoy the slide show and congratulations to the winners. Plus, here’s a link to last year’s winners. And, here’s a link to 10 who just missed this year's list.

Despite a 10% drop in the total number of broker-dealers in the past five years, the total number of reps industrywide has fallen a correspondingly negligible amount.

The upcoming issue of Bank Investment Consultant will feature our annual Top Program Managers. And later this week, we’ll have a slide show of the winners. In the meantime, here’s a peek at those who just missed the cutoff (in alphabetical order). Plus, here’s a link to last year’s winners.

The Dow eked out a tiny gain in April. Here's a look at the five stocks that did the most to hold back the group last month.

Through all the ups and downs last month, the Dow Jones Industrial Average still managed to post a tiny gain – 1.59 points, or 0.01% -- for the month. Here’s a look at the five best-performing Dow component stocks in April.

The group of three advisors said changes at the bank forced their hand.

Industry veteran Steven M. Short will oversee the wealth management offices in the bank’s footprint, which includes about 15 markets across six states.

Legacy expert attorneys Danielle and Andy Mayoras say even the most savvy and successful entrepreneurs are counting on their financial advisors to protect their life’s work and legacy after they’re gone. Are you up to the task?

The Chicago-based company bought Tamarac Inc., to expand the services it provides to RIAs.

Advisors must realistically assess their clients' readiness for life after work.

The implementation of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 started the process of "decoupling" between the Federal estate tax and various states. As the years moved forward, many states retained a $1 million estate tax exemption amount, decoupling their exemption from the Federal amount that has ultimately risen to its current $5 million level. However, the reality is that a second decoupling just occurred in 2011, and as a result, a new state estate tax planning "loophole" has opened up, creating a planning opportunity for many clients, but only until the states close the loophole.