It's fair to argue that the attention devoted to the market timing and late trading scandals is way out of proportion with their actual monetary impact on investors. But, for better or worse, John Q. Investor seems to have decided that the entire...
Let's face it: Asset management is a commodity. Just look at the hundreds, even thousands, of mutual funds that you have the ability to put clients in. So, just how, exactly, does your firm choose which funds or managed account managers to put on...
The Parabrokers I read Introducing the Parabrokers (October, 2003) with great interest. I work at a wirehouse for an advisor who manages $120 million in assets and generates over $900,000 in gross. I have been with her through two roller-coaster...
Whither income-oriented investments or is it wither? Investors living on the proceeds of their investments face hard times, as many retirees are fast discovering, while watching their monthly checks dwindle. Money market yields offer thin fare ...
In the Nov. 2003 issue, the story Playing Hard to Get stated that A.G. Edwards had its Client Choice initiative. In fact, the plan is being and is still running. Also in the November issue, in the Going Independent" supplement, an LPL executive...
Here's a quick way to gain some insight into how the securities industry came to its current lowly state: Type mutual fund market timing into your favorite search engine. Given the spate of scandals plaguing the industry, you might expect to see a...
If my recent experience in placing a wirehouse broker at a new firm is any indication, the ripples from the securities industry scandals are starting to be felt in places that the regulators haven't even begun to examine yet. The broker I'm...
Let the finger pointing begin. As the mutual fund scandal kicks into high gear, brokers are starting to unveil their plans for fighting regulators' charges of fraud against them. And if the legal documents filed by some former Pru employees are...
In most years the tax code is a must read in the worst sense of the phrase: advisors feel compelled to bone up only because it's pretty much an obligation to do so. This year, this is doubly true. Last year's relatively exciting tax overhaul...
In November, Charles Schwab & Co. disclosed instances of late trading and market timing in its Excelsior Funds, operated by its U.S. Trust unit. Not only did the news mark Schwab's first public implication in the mutual fund mess, it also trained...
