Call it Levitt's smackdown. In his new book, the former SEC chairman writes, Brokers may seem like clever financial experts, but they are first and foremost salespeople. This book, a timely release by the longest-serving SEC head ever, is a kick...
Easy Rider I'm sure your intent was not to insult anyone by the title of your article (When that Bundle of Joy Grows Up to Be a Biker Chick, November), but being a biker chick myself, I was a little put off. Not all bikers or biker chicks are...
In the Chinese calendar, 2002 was the Year of the Black Horse. For stockbrokers, 2002 is the Year to Forget. On the business side, the problems have been plentiful. The relentless stock market slide has caused broker incomes to plummet, client...
There is a memorable passage in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, where Alice is confronted with a fork in the road. She asks the Cheshire Cat, Cheshire Puss, would you please tell me which way I ought to go from here? The cat...
For years, I've listened to people in the financial services profession expound on the virtues of planning. To achieve financial success, they intone, their clients must have a plan. Some advisors charge thousands of dollars to prepare this road...
If you're lucky, you may have clients like Greg Glosser's, a financial consultant with RBC Dain Rauscher in Dallas with almost $400 million in assets under management. When the headlines about tainted research involving Enron, Tyco, WorldCom, etc...
Just say wealth management these days and reps snap to attention. What with the bear market limiting transaction-based income and firms pressuring brokers to annuitize their business, who doesn't want to attract affluent clients and provide them...
I had known the old man for more than 10 years before he became my client. He is a bachelor, never married and a World War II veteran who flew on B-17 missions over Europe. I buy restored lawnmowers from him. He picks up old ones that have been...
Every broker learns about the Prudent Man Rule when studying for the Series 7. That means, more or less, not to put all your eggs in one basket lest they end up on your face. John Tripi, a former Morgan Stanley broker, invested $214,000 in one...
The longer you are in the business of providing financial advice, the more likely you will get this call: A favorite middle-aged client rings you up and notes that a large bond in his account is coming due, or that there is a burgeoning sum...