Feb 29, 2012
By Diana Britton
While job growth is improving and the markets are rallying, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said there’s still a gnawing sense of unease among CEOs and investors. ...
Feb 29, 2012
By Jerry Gleeson
Dispensing financial advice for a living is a tough game if you are young.
That’s the conclusion drawn from a new report by Charles Schwab, which shows that advisors under the age of 40 are more likely than their older peers to feel pressure to grow their book of business, or to focus on selling proprietary products.
...
Feb 29, 2012
By Charles Paikert
Family offices received an unpleasant and unexpected surprise earlier this month – they are now going to have to register their commodity and futures trades. It will be an onerous, and potentially costly, process, many say. ...
Feb 28, 2012
David A. Geracioti, Editor-in-Chief
In our March issue month we’re pleased to feature a piece by Joshua Brown, a financial advisor, a blogger (TheReformedBroker.com) and, well, industry gadfly. We adapted a chapter about financial products to avoid....
Feb 28, 2012
By Joshua Brown
Verbally abusive, perpetually disgruntled, scathing in his assessment of what ails a business and forcing you to face your own weaknesses: Chef Gordon Ramsey could be the best practice management coach you’ll ever find. ...
Feb 28, 2012
David A. Geracioti, Editor-in-Chief
Our sister publication (and website) — Trusts & Estates — blasted its twice monthly Wealth Watch newsletter today. ...
Feb 28, 2012
By Lynn O’Shaughnessy
Some surprising statistics about this year’s crop of college freshmen: Most get into the school of their choice, they go to school close to home, and they excel in self-confidence. ...
Feb 28, 2012
By Diana Britton
Last September, the Department of Labor announced it would repropose its rule on the application of the fiduciary standard to retirement accounts....
Feb 27, 2012
By Diana Britton
If you opened up a copy of BusinessWeek just two weeks ago and bothered to glance through the ads, you’d see a picture of $2.3 million producer Peter Sargent featured in Merrill Lynch’s ‘The Power of the Right Advisor’ campaign. He was also chairman of the wirehouse’s advisory council. But today, you’ll find Sargent at regional firm Janney Montgomery Scott in Yardley, Pa., having recently jumped ship after 20 years with Merrill. ...
Feb 27, 2012
By Lauren Barack
These days you can’t afford not to be online if you want to build and safeguard your “brand.” There are many things you can do to head off potential trouble and make sure potential clients don’t stumble upon a nasty surprise during a search. ...
Feb 24, 2012
By Kristen French
For a firm that is still fending off lawsuits from the mortgage crisis and market meltdown it can’t be happy news. But for African American broker George McReynolds and his attorney Linda Friedman of Stowell & Friedman today is a day to celebrate.
...
Feb 24, 2012
By Diana Britton
There’s been a lot of speculation over how many of Morgan Keegan’s 1,000 financial advisors will stick around as the firm gets absorbed into acquirer Raymond James, a deal expected to close in April. Some are resistant to the change or are being lured away. ...
Feb 23, 2012
By Stephen Boswell & Kevin Nichols
The following are some common social media faux pas we’ve seen advisors make over the past few years. By reviewing these and inverting, we can learn from our mistakes and ensure we avoid them. ...
Feb 22, 2012
By Kristen French
Does Merrill Edge, Merrill Lynch’s brokerage, banking and financial advice platform for the mass affluent (those with $100,000 to $250,000 to invest), compete with Merrill Lynch financial advisors?...
Feb 22, 2012
By Diana Britton
In the spirit of fairness and objective journalism, I wanted to point you to an article that makes counter-arguments to our December 2011 cover story, “Is Tactical Investing Wall Street’s Next Clown Act?” “The Real Clowns,” is written by our friend Ken Solow, chief investment officer and senior partner with Pinnacle Advisory Group ...
Feb 22, 2012
By Timothy D. Welsh, CFP®
Despite the many predictions that the crowd would thin on a Saturday morning here on the last day of the Technology Tools for Today (T3) conference after a big night of revelry, advisors, hungry for more technology content, packed the opening keynote speeches....
Feb 22, 2012
By Charles Paikert
Aspiriant found a successful niche serving recent affluent immigrants, and now wants to bring wealth management services directly to Asia. But does an Independent shop stand a chance against global firms?...
Feb 21, 2012
By David A. Geracioti, Editor-in-Chief
Alrighty, equities are back, touching numbers not seen since, their 2007 highs. Small caps (Russell 2000 up by, as the WSJ aptly put it, an “eye–popping 36% since October) are on a run and no one cares. ...
Feb 21, 2012
By Kristen French
Only about one out of every five rookies in the Wall Street brokerage business makes it through year two or three of a four-year training program. One firm found some tricks that work....
Feb 21, 2012
By Timothy D. Welsh, CFP®
Friday morning arrived bright and early here at the Technology Tools for Today (T3) conference in Dallas, TX....
Feb 21, 2012
By Alan Lavine
There is a lot of survey noise out there. Before you believe what you read, take a look at this list. ...
Feb 17, 2012
By Jennifer Popovec
A new crop of commercial mortgage REITs emerging today may be less risky investments compared to the legacy commercial mortgage REITs that operated during the most recent real estate boom, argue some industry experts....
Feb 17, 2012
By Timothy D. Welsh, CFP®
Sandwiched between dueling jewelry and cosmetic trade shows at the Dallas Hilton Anatole hotel, the 7th annual “Technology Tools for Today” or “T3” conference kicked off today, with over 500 advisors and software vendors gathered together to learn about the latest enhancements, ...
Feb 17, 2012
By Jerry Gleeson
Less than two years after raising $85 million in an initial public offering, Envestnet Inc. is on an acquisition roll. ...
Feb 16, 2012
By Diana Britton
During Bloomberg’s Portfolio Manager Mash-Up in New York Thursday, John Bogle, founder of the Vanguard Group, told portfolio managers he was skeptical of the way ETFs ...
