April 1, 2005
REPorts
The New New Thing at AEFA
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Kristen French
If there's one thing that irks reps about American Express Financial Advisors, it is the way the firm keeps changing its rules. Since launching its unique...
Wealth + Apathy = Opportunity
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By John Churchill
The good news for high-net-worth hunters: A large subset of affluent clients self-directed investors tend to be nonplussed by their current advisory relationship....
Fashion Sense for the Been-Set-Free Set
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
Martha Stewart's stay in a federal lockup apparently has not diminished her status as an arbiter of taste. The crocheted poncho Stewart wore on her way...
A Brush with Fakeness
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By John Churchill
Ron Galen, a California-based financial planner, struck out in his bid to purchase Jose Canseco's 2000 World Series ring one of a host of memorabilia...
Blotter
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
Punk'd: The NYSE and the states of New Jersey and Connecticut fined Merrill Lynch a total of $13.5 million for failing to supervise a group of Fort Lee,...
Ratting on Regulators
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
Don't like the way that SEC investigator treated you while rifling through your files? Well, now you can report him....
Advisor as Artist
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, Kristen French
The saffron-colored erected in New York's Central Park by the artist Christo was recently cut down to size, literally, by 50-year-old Geoff Hargadon,...
By the Numbers
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
Much has been made about Morgan Stanley CEO Phillip Purcell's 45 percent jump in salary for 2004, despite the firm's lagging stock price. But a look at...
Comings & Goings
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
UBS has brought in two top-producing advisors. David Kinnear left Morgan Stanley's private wealth group to join Frank Maroni's office in Chicago. Kinnear...
Ten Years Ago in Registered Rep
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
Free Internet Access! Use the hottest new Internet browser ... Gopher!
Classified ad in April 1995 Registered Representative Magazine....
Mr. Whimsy
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
During the day, Marc Frederic is a vice president and advisor for Smith Barney's Torrance, Calif., office. By night or, more accurately, during the morning...
Sample poem:
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
Mr. Whimsy feels he has theworld's best job to doHe thinks up rhymes and stories,then shares them all with you. He loves to open up his mind,see what...
Elder Abuse, Advisor Style
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, Will Leitch
One of the few aspects of the securities industry to escape significant regulatory intervention so far is the sale of variable annuity products. But that...
Boomers Reject Their Parents
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, Will Leitch
Merrill Lynch is taking a radical new look at how retirement and baby boomers are perceived and it could change the way their advisors structure their...
Merrill Takes a Late Hit on Research Scandal
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, John Churchill
An NASD arbitration panel ordered Merrill Lynch to pay more than $1 million to investors Gary and Lisa Friedman last month for hiding conflicts of interest...
The State of Estate Planning
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, Kristen French
Tax planning for estates took a hit in 2001 when the White House decided to repeal the estate tax in 2010. But business is back. As the debate drags on...
How Not to Get Sued
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, Thrupthi Reddy, senior editor, Trusts & Estates.
If you're a fiduciary and don't want to get sued and fined pay close attention to litigation expert Dominic J. Campisi. Campisi, a partner in the San...
IRAs and the IRS
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, Will Leitch
A recent clarification from the Internal Revenue Service could change the way clients fund their individual retirement accounts and may eventually cut...
Special Report: Mutual Funds
A Pile of Reasons
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Stan Luxenberg and Kristen French
As one A.G. Edwards financial advisor sees it, regulators and broker/dealer management have gone overboard with mutual fund disclosure. Take the case...
A Benign Disaster?
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Stan Luxenberg
Quick: Guess how much money investors in Putnam Investments mutual funds were cheated out of in the market-timing scandals. Hint: It wasn't the $110 million...
Gurus: The Watchdog
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By David A. Geracioti
FundAlarm.com may not be a household name, but the Web site, founded by Roy Weitz in 1996, has an influence more powerful than the 125,000 user hits the...
Features
A Perilous Position?
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Erin Schulte
Rick Peterson, a Houston recruiter, places about 75 clients a year. But when firms come to him to scout out branch office managers (BOMs), those who'd...
Indie Research (A Non-Event So Far)
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Will Leitch
When the Wall Street research scandal drew to its close last July as the SEC exacted a global settlement from the top investment banks many reps wondered...
True to Form
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Namita Devidayal
Ask the average rep to free associate on the name H&R Block, and one word would appear in virtually all the responses: taxes. Block has been a fixture...
Investing
Explore Beyond the Core
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Stan Luxenberg
Most of the cash flowing into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has focused on a few big funds, especially ones that track popular benchmarks, such as the...
Got Game?
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Bob Hirschfeld
A recent New York magazine article declared 2005 a golden age for video games, and anyone who has played Resident Evil 4, Madden NFL 2005 or Grand Theft...
Aiming Downmarket
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By John Churchill
For years, reps have been told that separately managed accounts (SMAs), were being The institutional-quality management, tax efficiency, transparency...
The Practice
Buyer's Recourse
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Anne Field
For advisors looking to expand a practice quickly, purchasing a book of clients was once the most expedient solution. Robert Enright learned the hard...
Passing Grades for 529s
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Kevin McKinley
When qualified college savings accounts burst on the scene in the late 1990s, the initial growth exceeded most expectations. Assets in state-sponsored...
Death by Nickels and Dimes
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
Q: I joined my current firm in October 2003 and signed a contract that stipulated ticket charges would be $15. After only six months, the firm raised...
Two-Tiered Justice?
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Bill Singer
Any rep or branch office manager who has been disciplined by the NASD can attest to the organization's zealous dedication to enforcement. However, a recent...
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Mindy Diamond
The process of deciding to change firms often hinges on concrete comparisons of compensation, of working conditions, of relations with management. But...
Appearances Matter
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Matt Oechsli
Wealthy clients weigh a lot of factors when choosing a financial advisor cost of services is one of them, but it is far from the most important. Indeed,...
In Praise of the Lump
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Kevin McKinley
The word carries enough negative connotations that it comes as no surprise when its presence in a conversation about a retiree's future makes all involved...
Endpiece
Keep It Dark
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Richard A. Roth
Arbitrations are designed to be the final word in disputes between investors and the firms and reps that serve them. Thus, it is not surprising that when...
