In the world of RIAs, there's more to business than just selling performance. For asset managers who just manage client money, there are few places to hide when markets head south and their clients' portfolios tank...More
Small independent broker/dealers are dropping like flies, leaving many financial advisors in the lurch. But the good advisors have plenty of broker/dealers to choose from, while the bad guys—the ones who bought a lot of troubled alternatives and private placements—weigh limited options...More
There are a few common obstacles to expanding an advisory practice, but often they represent blind spots. Once you identify them, you can do something about them...More
There is a theme that seems to repeat itself in the broker/dealer industry: quality advisors join shops that, deliberately or not, peddle bad investments and get caught, and those good advisors suffer for it...More
To develop a tax strategy, it is necessary to study data on past performance and make a subjective judgment about how funds will fare in the future....More
Just a small segment of the advisor industry accounts for most of the sales of variable annuities in the U.S., so for insurers who are concerned about the long-term growth of the industry, getting more advisors on board to peddle their products is critical...More
Call it the Madoff effect. The SEC is still reeling from the discovery of the giant decades-long Ponzi scheme that Bernie Maddoff and his helpers pulled off, and trying to put rules in place to make sure it doesn't ever happen again...More
Robert Jenkins has been appointed president of the Financial Research Corporation, an asset management research and consulting firm. Jenkins previously held positions at Fidelity Management & Research and Fidelity Investments...More
Is Greenwich, Conn., where a high concentration of New York-based hedge fund managers live in sprawling mansions with elaborately manicured grounds, the secret to the U.S. hedge fund industry's financial success? China seems to think so....More