Sep 14, 2011
By Matt Oechsli
Vancouver—“Man, I got so much going on—all good stuff—but sometimes I’m not certain which way to turn,” Larry mused. Then, with a bit more honesty, he added, “Maybe I’m like most financial advisors and am easily distracted. I guess I need help prioritizing.”...
Sep 14, 2011
By Diana Britton
The week after Hurricane Irene swept through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast states, one of John Papa’s clients in Caldwell, N.J., who was getting ready to retire from her position at Verizon, came into his office to discuss her retirement. Flooding had caused over $50,000 in damages to her home, and Papa, president of Diversified Planning Strategies, recommended she delay her retirement for at least a year to cover the expenses....
Sep 14, 2011
By Andrew J. Haigney
The fiduciary standard is a sideshow for b/ds. They’re really worried about being unable to self-regulate when they formally step into the investment advisory world. That’s why FINRA wants to take the job from the SEC....
Sep 14, 2011
By Timothy D. Welsh
Fresh off the acquisition of Black Diamond Performance Reporting, Advent Software convened its 25th annual Advent Connect users conference in downtown Boston at the cavernous Hynes Convention Center over three days, September 12-14, 2011. ...
Sep 13, 2011
By Charles Paikert
Wildfires, soaring temperatures and Governor Rick Perry aren’t the only things hot about Texas these days. The Lone Star States’ booming wealth management market is also attracting considerable attention, most recently by private equity powerhouse The Caryle Group’s purchase of the largest minority stake in Houston-based Avalon Advisors. ...
Sep 13, 2011
By Kristen French
It’s impossible to know what the sum of the day’s testimonies, questions and comments will lead to, especially considering that whatever bill emerges would need to also pass a Democrat-controlled Senate. Whatever the outcome, it’s likely to be drawn out, but some compromises may be getting made. ...
Sep 13, 2011
By Charles Paikert
The fastest-growing wealth management market in the nation got a jolt yesterday as two top advisors bolted the well-established Houston firm Sanders Morris Harris Inc. to join upstart cross-town rival U.S. Capital Advisors....
Sep 12, 2011
By Charles Paikert
Wealth managers got some good news today: Fewer chief investment officers are working inside family offices, according to a new survey by the Institute for Private Investors....
Sep 12, 2011
By Susan Konig
What a heck of a summer. In August, Mr. Market behaved like a schizophrenic. Such volatile conditions, no doubt, cool clients’ ardor for risk. For most, the challenge of merely keeping their clients calm takes precedence over seeking greener pastures at other firms. ...
Sep 9, 2011
By Diana Britton
Considered a win for independent broker/dealers and their advisors, the California state Senate passed a bill Thursday night that tightens rules governing independent contractor status but omits onerous paperwork requirements. The bill now moves on to Gov. Jerry Brown for signing. ...
Sep 8, 2011
By Kristen French and Diana Britton
The House proposed draft legislation Thursday that would allow one or more SROs to oversee all investment advisers. The bill was trotted out by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bacchus in advance of a Sept. 13 hearing to review provisions of Dodd-Frank that govern the regulation of broker/dealers and investment advisers, including the SRO issue as well as extension of fiduciary duty to brokers and broker/dealers. ...
Sep 8, 2011
By Mark Miller
Bob Morrison was working up a comprehensive financial plan last year for new clients when he began noticing some odd behavior. Morrison, a planner based in Littleton, Colo., had been working with the couple—a 64-year-old man and his 52-year-old wife—over a four-month period, and several conversations with the husband concerned him. ...
Sep 7, 2011
By Stephen Boswell & Kevin Nichols
Detroit: “I’ve never been a natural networker” started Lisa as we wrapped up our webinar. “I read the Oechsli Institute's 2011 FA Report which stated that ‘strategic networking’ is one of the five high-impact marketing activities - so I guess I should learn how to network. Do you have any tips when the markets are this volatile? What about networking for new advisors?”...
Sep 7, 2011
By Diana Britton
Seven broker/dealers have signed on this week with software provider Erado to launch interactive social media initiatives for their financial advisors. The new b/ds, represent about 5,000 reps. ...
Sep 6, 2011
By Kristen French
Updated at 10:47 a.m. Bank of America gave the heave-ho to Sallie Krawcheck last night as part of a management shake-up. Rumors abound about why she was ousted, but most agree it means BofA has no plans to spin off Merrill....
Sep 6, 2011
By Charles Paikert
Charlotte Beyer has been a trailblazer in the wealth management business before the phrase “wealth management” was even being used.
In 1991, the then 43-year-old financial services executive founded the Institute for Private Investors as a peer-to-peer membership organization for very wealthy individuals and families who wanted unbiased information about investing and a place to confidentially share ideas—and problems.
...
Sep 2, 2011
By Diana Britton
For months and even years, analysts have debated and speculated on whether gold is in a bubble and whether that bubble could be close to bursting. It’s also been written about time and again in the pages of Registered Rep. But the whipsaw we’ve been seeing between the SPDR Gold Shares ETF (GLD) and the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) just goes to show what volatile times we are in....
Sep 1, 2011
By Diana Britton
Despite an opportunity to buy stocks on the cheap, retail investors still have a risk-adverse bias, according to recent fund flows. Year-to-date through July, investors have yanked $17.8 billion from equity mutual funds, with outflows of about $31.6 billion in July and $22.9 billion in June, according to the Investment Company Institute. Meanwhile, about $95.4 billion has flowed into taxable bond mutual funds through July, including inflows of $12 billion in June and $9.8 billion in July, ICI said....
Aug 31, 2011
By Matt Oechsli
Times of crisis separate elite advisors from the masses....
Aug 30, 2011
By Amy Burroughs
As the baby boomer generation ages, the number of people with Alzheimer’s will climb: an estimated 16 million are expected to suffer from the disease by 2050, up from 5.4 million today, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. One early sign of the disease is trouble managing money, which puts financial advisors on the front lines....
Aug 30, 2011
By Kristen French
The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee’s capital markets subcommittee plans to hold a hearing on Sept. 13 on the regulation of broker/dealers and investment advisers. ...
Aug 29, 2011
By Stan Luxenberg
During the market turmoil of recent years, most municipal funds have delivered solid returns by following plain-vanilla strategies. Typical portfolio managers have bought a cross section of investment-grade bonds. Not surprisingly, fund returns tended to be bunched in a close pack. But not all managers are content to stay in the middle of the field. A few stars have topped the averages by following unusual strategies. ...
Aug 26, 2011
By Jerry Gleeson
Charles Schwab has long said that it doesn’t solicit the investor clients of the financial advisors who custody assets with the firm. It’s a stance it repeated just a month ago when discussing its upcoming franchise program. And yet, just last week, Schwab found itself apologizing for violating that very policy. ...
Aug 26, 2011
By Stan Luxenberg
Since markets hit bottom in the spring of 2009, hedge funds have been reviving. But the structure of the industry has changed dramatically. While hedge funds once catered primarily to wealthy individuals, now the main clients are pensions and institutions. That shift is forcing hedge funds to change the way they operate....
Aug 25, 2011
By Diana Britton
Despite the fact that broker/dealers expect increased flows into their portfolio models over the next year, advisors’ usage of these models has declined in the last 12 months, especially among RIAs. The current market volatility will be a major test of these models, as advisors look closely at how they come out of this environment and possibly rethink their appeal, said Hari Krishnaswami, product manager for FA Vision, a joint service of kasina and Horsesmouth....
