China ADRs Surpassing Local Index 

By Kristen French

Playing the local Chinese stock market has always been off limits to foreign investors. But it turns out that doesn’t matter much. Chinese ADRs have lately outperformed the local Shanghai Composite Index, according to Bespoke Investments....

Navigating Estate Tax Changes 

By Kevin McKinley

If the current economic and investment climate aren’t enough to stimulate conversation with your high net worth clients, you may want to add “estate taxes” to the list of ongoing discussion topics. ...

Wealth Management M&A To Pick Up in 2010 

By Halah Touryalai

Mergers and acquisitions in the wealth management business will bounce back in 2010 as valuations and cash flows pick up with the improving market and economy, experts predict. But buyers and sellers will be more selective than they were during the last M&A boom in the business between 2004 and 2007, according to Echelon Partners, a Los Angeles-based M&A consulting firm. ...

Hidden Treasure, Uncovering Client Assets 

By Kevin McKinley

With equity prices up, interest rates down, and an economic picture that can be described as blurry at best, it seems harder than ever to find sure-fire ways to enhance a client’s financial picture. In fact, you may want to look beyond stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, instead locating assets, benefits, and beneficial programs that your clients have long forgotten about, or never knew existed....

Re-Assessing Retirement Plans, Again. 

By David A. Geracioti

Sure, retirement looks a bit different for many of your clients after last year’s market plunge. But with the recent equity market surge off of March lows, should you make new adjustments? And if so, what?...

Alternatives Make Comeback in 09 

By Christina Mucciolo

Alternative investments were not spared last year’s market tailspin, but there’s been a notable comeback in returns on some alternative categories this year. Meanwhile, advisors and investors are more convinced than ever that alternatives are a key component of a well diversified portfolio....

How To Pick Outperforming Funds 

By Stan Luxenberg, mutual funds editor

There is one actively managed fund group that has not disappointed: Morningstar’s fund managers of the year. ...

Lesson for Grandma--529s Trump Savings Bonds 

By Kevin McKinley

With the end-of-the-year holidays approaching, many generous grandparents are looking for ways to pass on some financial gifts to their grandchildren. But letting clients give savings bonds as presents only guarantees the family will be stuck with an investment that offers a low rate of return and a high degree of hassle. Here are several reasons why helping those well-intentioned clients use 529 college savings plans instead will make the grandparents and their grandchildren happier now, as well as in the future....

What Estate Tax Reform? 

By Gail E. Cohen, executive vice president and general trust counsel, Fiduciary Trust Company International, New York.

The landscape in which all wealth advisors manage trusts and create estate plans is about to be altered dramatically. But those changes may not be the ones everybody is expecting....

Conservation Easements Primer 

By Richard W. Gilmore, owner of Asset & Risk Assessment International, based in Charlton, Mass.

Now may be the perfect time for clients to donate land for public preservation. Consider and understand the option—and its tax benefits...

Protect Yourself: Customer Arb Filings Continue To Rise 

By Kristen French

If they haven’t already, financial advisors and wealth managers should take extra steps to protect themselves from client litigation. Though the violent spike in customer arbitration filings in the first quarter of this year has subsided somewhat, filings are still way up from recent years and should continue that way for a few years to come, say securities lawyers. Advisors are spending more time in arbitration, as well, due to a new FINRA rule out early this year....

Playing Asia After The Runup 

By Christina Mucciolo

Asian stocks hit a 14-month high Tuesday, with the MSCI index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan up almost 55 percent year-to-date. But that doesn’t mean it’s too late to invest in the sector, as long as you have a long-term investing horizon and proceed with caution....