Aug 15, 2011
By Lauren Barack
When Jude Boudreaux launched his solo practice, Upperline Financial Planning in September, he headed for the clouds. Everything from his portfolio system to invoicing, customer relationship management (CRM) programming, to email is all stored in a cloud-computing environment. There’s no server, no software upgrades, no technology manager — just him, his MacBook Air and a home office....
Aug 12, 2011
By Diana Britton
Product development in the retirement income space has exploded, and for good reason. With about 77 million Baby Boomers coming up on retirement, advisors will have to deal with a larger pool of clients transitioning from the asset accumulation phase of their lives to the asset distribution phase. On top of that, the future of social security benefits is in doubt, and many employers no longer offer defined benefit pension plans and instead put the onus of savings on the employee in defined contribution/401(k) offerings. ...
Aug 12, 2011
By Diana Britton
Some advisors have jumped ship from independent broker/dealer Securities America for LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) following news that parent Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP) would sell SAI. Most recently, a $420 million team in Cornelius, N.C., Cornerstone Financial Partners, which includes four partners, have made the move and formed their own registered investment advisory firm under LPL’s hybrid platform....
Aug 11, 2011
By Mark Miller
Over half of American workers say they plan to keep on working in retirement.
That finding from a recent survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies may sound like a contradiction in terms. If so, it's a contradiction that could pay significant dividends for the retirement plans of your clients.
...
Aug 10, 2011
By Stephen Boswell & Kevin Nichols
Seattle: “The market is taking a major tumble and the few clients I have are calling the office frantically,” moaned Ethan as we began our coaching session. “I know you’re going to tell me this is a great time for prospecting, but I can’t keep my head straight. It’s hard enough for me to bring in new clients because I’m a rookie, add the shaky market on top of that and I’m not even sure where to start.”...
Aug 10, 2011
By Diana Britton
LPL Financial (NASDAQ: LPLA) kicked off its annual conference in Chicago on Monday by ringing the opening bell of the NASDAQ stock exchange and announcing some new initiatives aimed at supporting advisors. In particular, the firm is slashing transaction charges for equities and ETFs from $15 to $9 a trade and footing the bill for all its 12,600 advisors to have a one-year membership to the Financial Services Institute, said Bill Dwyer, president of national sales and marketing at LPL, during the opening session Monday. ...
Aug 9, 2011
By Charles Paikert
S&P’s downgrade isn’t the problem, say wealth management and family office executives; it’s worse than that. The problem is the nations’ underlying structure of political, economic and fiscal problems—they are a legitimate cause for long-term concern. To put it in computer-speak: the United States is hardwired for doom....
Aug 9, 2011
By Diana Britton
With the recent events of Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S.’s credit rating last Friday and yesterday’s market crash in reaction to the downgrade, advisors are fielding inquiries from clients, but many say they see the situation as more of a buying opportunity, rather than a time to panic and pull out of the markets. ...
Aug 9, 2011
By Diana Britton
Advisors affiliated with insurance companies are not locked into the insurance commission mentality; many of them looking to diversify their sources of revenues with other types of investment products as well as AUM-based fees. [What a grand time to make the switch, what with the market volatility scaring retail investors onto the sidelines. You only have to look at fiscal third-quarter trading volumes at, say, TD Ameritrade or Schwab....
Aug 8, 2011
By Jerry Gleeson
Financial advisors who are considering Charles Schwab’s new independent branch program are being told they will have to abide by the company’s contact policy, a Schwab (Ticker: SCHW) spokesman says. The policy bars Schwab employees at the firm’s 300 branches from reaching out to investor clients of registered investment advisors with sales or business development pitches or advice interactions, spokesman Michael Cianfrocca says. “It’s pretty much that straightforward,” he says. “The independent branch leaders and their staff will have the same policy that our co-managed branches have.” ...
Aug 8, 2011
By Susan Konig
John J. has been an FA for 30 years. He started at a regional firm and went on to work at two different wirehouses in Manhattan. He’s been with the current one for a decade and manages $270 million assets for 900 households. After the 2008 market crash, like most of his peers, the 56-year-old’s production took a hit. ...
Aug 5, 2011
By Diana Britton
Sometime in the next couple of months, George Clarke, an African American advisor with Diversified Investment Group in Silver Spring, Md., plans to launch a new non-profit organization aimed at supporting financial advisors of color and creating awareness of some of the unique issues they face in the industry....
Aug 5, 2011
By Rosalyn Retkwa
Bank of America Merrill Lynch has become the first U.S. underwriter to offer the World Bank’s new green bonds to retail investors in $1,000 denominations ...
Aug 4, 2011
Expect these people to change your world in the next 12 months....
Aug 3, 2011
By Kristen French
Nancy Martignago, a sales assistant for Merrill Lynch in the firm’s Fort Worth, Tex. office, filed a class action lawsuit on Jun. 9 against Merrill in the Southern District of New York for unpaid overtime compensation. ...
Aug 3, 2011
By Charles Paikert
A San Diego wealth management firm has launched a separate practice group staffed by women and targeted at women, specifically high-net-worth women over 45 who own their own businesses, are going through a divorce or have become widows....
Aug 2, 2011
By Jerry Gleeson
The Pagnato-Karp Group, with $1.2 billion in assets, likens HighTower’s model to those that have leveled the proverbial playing fields in other industries. ...
Aug 1, 2011
By Jerry Gleeson
Industry observers say many financial advisors are unaware of changes to come. It could haunt them if clients get burned....
Aug 1, 2011
By Diana Britton
A recent bill that surfaced in California may result in some independent contractors being reclassified as employees. Could the IBD model be under threat?...
Aug 1, 2011
By John Aidan Byrne
Bob McCann is ready to declare a small victory in the UBS turnaround story, but he's still got a long road ahead. He gives the firm's financial advisors much of the credit....
Aug 1, 2011
By Jennifer Duell Popovec
Apartment REITs benefit from the burst homeownership bubble....
Aug 1, 2011
By Anne Field
A 57-year-old financial advisor is trying to plan his retirement and prepare a successor in case anything should happen to him. But he's not sure what the best route is....
Aug 1, 2011
By Lynn O'Shaughnessy
Colleges reserve financial aid for the neediest and for kids who are well above their student body average in grade point or test scores. Affluent families should research the financial aid histories of the colleges on their kids' lists....
Aug 1, 2011
By Kevin McKinley
Anxious clients can find plenty of excitement in boring old savings bonds....
Aug 1, 2011
By Jerry Gleeson
Growing dissatisfaction among advisors at the top Wall Street firms is fueling breakawy broker interest, the Chicago-based RIA says. ...
