Wealth Think

The holidays are a great time to show your clients that you appreciate them and their business. If this is done well, it strengthens client relationships, helping with both retention and referrals.

While lavish recruitment packages are becoming the norm for Wall Street, all that glitters is not gold.

A paradigm shift is occurring in how bank investment program executives see retirement planning, according to Scott Stathis, managing director of Kehrer LIMRA. Stathis discussed with me some of the key findings of his retirement roundtable back in October.

The online discussion about whether, in our fiduciary debate, we should have one standard or two, has stirred up a hornet's nest.

Tracking client information is important since it becomes the basis of the marketing plan. Unfortunately, many firms don’t monitor the source of their new business and miss out on marketing opportunities.

Advisor Michael Leanza says that “active-passive” capital preservation with upside potential is turning his wealthy clients into advocates.

There are a variety of working styles and strategies represented by the top 50 bank reps, but some themes stand out that have helped keep them above the cut.

Advisors should be building on their strengths, their interests and, of course, their talents. The best and the brightest advisors have one thing in common: Each one has found his or her specialty or strength and constructed a platform for success.

The financial planning community has a lot of knowledge and wisdom – way more than any individual writer or commentator. But how do we tap the deep wisdom of the crowd to help us resolve important, complicated issues? Bob Veres, a columnist for Financial Planning magazine, is here to trigger conversations on important topics for advisors on issues and subjects facing the industry. First up: The regualtory standard.

Perhaps it‘s no surprise, but upfront money keeps hitting unprecedented levels. Can that continue?