Wealth management

RIA firms can learn from the smart decisions and big mistakes made by Sierra Investment Management of Los Angeles.

For our ranking, we used a weighted average with five different variables (growth in team assets, growth in team production, average production per advisor, number of FAs manager oversees, and number of LBEs manager oversees).

Financial advisors underestimate their clients’ interests in philanthropy, and consequently miss out on opportunities to tap into those passions and expand those relationships.

The wealth management industry is poised to become more concentrated and consolidated, or is it?

Registered investment advisor assets continue to ascend rapidly, according to Cerulli Associates.

In our May issue, Bank Investment Consultant will unveil its Top 20 Program Managers. Here is the second half of the listing (#11 through #20).

These managers just missed the cutoff for our upcoming top 20

Barack and Michelle Obama need a better financial strategy. Financial Planning has several suggestions.

The Financial Planning Association and the Foundation for Financial Planning are joining forces to boost the organizations’ pro bono efforts.

In 2011, 44% of brokers who left wirehouses landed at independent firms, but every broker has an array of options when it comes to independence.

Linscomb & Williams, a fee-only RIA with $2 billion in assets under management, announced Tuesday it is opening an office in Birmingham, Ala.

Fidelity says the new desktop will enable the “anywhere advisor."

Facebook,Twitter and LinkedIn are changing the way advisors communicate with clients. How can advisors better use social media to take their practice to the next level?

Last week, we listed the 10 biggest banks by advisor headcount. They account for roughly half the bank channel. Most of the rest of the industry works through one of the third-party marketers.

The Internal Revenue Service is warning potential donors to beware of charity scams operating in the wake of the explosions last week at the Boston Marathon and a Texas fertilizer plant.

IronGate, the largest independent wealth advisory firms in Wilmington N.C., opened its doors in 2005, and has a team of 14 advisors managing $200 million in assets.

When offering a market perspective or sitting down with a client for a portfolio review, word choice can make all the difference.

Genworth Financial Wealth Management will soon have new owners -- and a new name.

“The smart money is coming in,” said industry consultant Tim Welsh, president of Larkspur, Calif.-based Nexus Strategy, “and now we’ll see how smart the smart money is. Can they wring efficiencies out of this model?”

Hundreds of small regionals and community banks account for about half the bank channel advisors. The other half lives at one of the top 10 banks (with the top two accounting for the majority.) Here is a countdown of the 10 biggest players in the bank channel this year, based on the total number of bank advisors.