Jun 28, 2010
By Stan Luxenberg
In recent years, shareholders have become smarter fund shoppers. But too many still buy and sell at the wrong times, says Don Phillips, Morningstar’s managing director....
Jun 25, 2010
By Kristen French
Updated Sunday, June 27. The full bill is now available.
After a herculean 20-hours straight of negotiations, Congressional committee members agreed Friday morning to a Wall Street reform package that will be much tougher on the country’s banks....
Jun 25, 2010
By Jerry Gleeson
Considered by some to be a latecomer to the ETF party, Vanguard yesterday beefed up its exchange traded fund and mutual fund offerings. In keeping with its philosophy of shaving costs for investors, the expense ratio on the 500 Index Fund ETF is a niggling 0.06 percent. ...
Jun 24, 2010
By Kristen French
Senator Tim Johnson accepted a final counter-offer from the House this afternoon on the subject of fiduciary duty in Wall Street reform. ...
Jun 23, 2010
By Halah Touryalai
The nervous-client-syndrome has yet to wear off. That’s according to a new survey that says most advisors are still spending the majority of their time with existing clients rather then generating new business....
Jun 21, 2010
By Jerry Gleeson
Is Boston Private Financial Holdings making a comeback? After a string of unsuccessful RIA acquisitions, soured loans at its private bank division, and a drawdown of $154 million in federal TARP aid, the RIA consolidator’s outlook was glum. Now there are signs that things are turning around....
Jun 18, 2010
By Bill Singer
The SEC is a gas-guzzling dinosaur of a vehicle whose engine warning-light went on years ago. It is a wheezing, dyspeptic boiler in our basement. Nothing good will come of this....
Jun 17, 2010
By Jerry Gleeson
With a rocky economic recovery, millions of gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, and sovereign debt crises in Europe, what is there to be happy about? Plenty, if you were one of the value managers at Wednesday’s panel discussion on investment opportunities, sponsored by American Beacon Advisors in New York City. ...
Jun 15, 2010
By Kristen French
In a media conference call Tuesday morning, NASAA President Denise Voigt Crawford outlined the biggest investor protection issues in Wall Street reform legislation supported by NASAA. Investor protection is one of the issues legislators plan to vote on during Tuesday’s conference session. ...
Jun 15, 2010
By Kristen French
After months and months of public debate and back-room deal-making, a final outcome on fiduciary duty—the biggest issue for financial advisors, stockbrokers and wealth managers in the Wall Street reform bill—may be decided Wednesday, and depends heavily on how Senator Tim Johnson (D., S.D.) votes in conference debate. ...
Jun 10, 2010
By John Aidan Byrne
“We are really the only major relevant firm that actually went into the 2008 and 2009 abyss and came out the same firm,” Mulholland told Registered Rep., in an exclusive interview at his office in Weehawken, N.J. “We went in as UBS and we came out as UBS. The others, they came out entirely different.” ...
Jun 9, 2010
By Jerry Gleeson
If you worked as a financial advisor last year, you are well aware that securities industry compensation was one of the many victims of the financial collapse. But new data from David Belkin, senior economist at the nonpartisan New York City Independent Budget Office, suggests that a more game-changing dynamic was at work, at least as far as securities companies based in New York City are concerned....
Jun 7, 2010
By Halah Touryalai
As one advisor puts it, “[The private equity firms] didn’t invest in LPL to hang out. It was a business decision and they’re ready to monetize their investment.” The PE firms’ 2005 investment valued LPL at $2.5 billion, or 2.5x gross revenue—a multiple analysts said was the highest ever for an independent b/d/. ...
Jun 7, 2010
By Jerry Gleeson
Americans will be feeling more generous this year, according to a projection from the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College. After falling off in 2009, charitable giving by individuals in the United States is expected to increase this year by 3 to 4.5 percent, the center estimates. ...
Jun 3, 2010
By Jerry Gleeson
Some attorneys are working feverishly to get clients’ assets into a specialized trust before proposed federal legislation eliminates the provisions that have made it so popular as a means of significantly reducing taxes....
Jun 3, 2010
By Kristen French
A big part of being a fiduciary has always been knowing exactly what your clients are paying for their investments, and making sure they’re getting the best deal. But today, advisors who act as fiduciaries have to keep a closer watch over fees and expenses than ever before, said Fi360, a group that provides consulting to financial advisors on fiduciary issues. ...
Jun 1, 2010
By John Aidan Byrne
Bank of America is making a push into electronic brokerage services, a menu that includes free online trading and a new platform called Merrill Edge, set to debut in late June. Some say the new services will steal business from Merrill advisors. ...
May 28, 2010
By Jake Zamansky
The Cato Institute recently reported that there are no less than 28 “studies” recommended in the Senate’s version of the financial regulatory reform bill. Of all these “studies,” the most wasteful and harmful is the proposed SEC study on a broad application of the fiduciary standard for brokers....
May 28, 2010
By Bill Singer
Seventy-nine-year-old widow Lois Pillen alleged that in 2007, various securities were purchased in her Wachovia Securities LLC account without her authorization. The FINRA Arbitrator found Respondent Wachovia liable for and $26,000.00 in compensatory damages plus interest; and ordered Wachovia to pay Pillen $225 in costs....
May 26, 2010
By Christina Mucciolo
After 28 years with Edward Jones, and 14 years as the firm’s chief market strategist, Alan Skrainka was let go from the firm on Friday. According to a Jones spokesperson, Skrainka was ousted due to “his use of written materials without giving attribution.” ...
May 26, 2010
By Jerry Gleeson
Paying retention bonuses to top brokers to keep them from jumping ship is a pricey strategy that only works some of the time, a report released today by Aite Group shows. Aite surveyed 400 advisors in wirehouses and independent b/ds in the fourth quarter of last year....
May 26, 2010
By Kristen French
Story updated at 4:21 p.m.
The future of Sallie Krawcheck, head of Merrill Lynch’s thundering herd of retail financial advisors, is suddenly the subject of much speculation. ...
May 24, 2010
By Halah Touryalai
The financial crisis left some serious emotional scarring on the ultra rich. In fact, they trust the government less since the downturn, and believe the U.S. and global economies will continue to deteriorate, according to a recent Barclays Wealth survey....
May 21, 2010
By Jerry Gleeson
Mean-variance theory, like a lot of other fondly-held beliefs, has come into question since the financial crash in the fall of 2008. ...
May 20, 2010
By Kristen French
The Senate voted 60-40 Thursday to end weeks of debate on Christopher Dodd’s financial regulatory reform legislation. Hotly debated proposals to extend the fiduciary standard to brokers did not make it into the final version of the legislation....
