Merrill Lynch is asking mutual fund and private money managers to pony up $20,000 for a "speaking slot" of five minutes in front of its sales reps during a series of upcoming branch office meetings, sources familiar with the situation say.The...
The loss of independence continues. Nathan & Lewis Securities, an independent financial services firmbased in New York City, has been acquired by insurer The New England.The broker/dealer will add a brokerage element to the captured agent sales...
"A lot of people know how to pick investments but don't have the emotional discipline to stay on course. They need someone to keep them on track."Full-service brokers have been saying that for years. But the above quote comes from a person who for...
In a marked reversal from past pronouncements, the Securities Industry Association (SIA) now supports the NASD's proposed rule that would eradicate the requirement that employment discrimination cases be arbitrated.In a Jan. 13 comment letter to...
The Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) has endorsed new mutual fund sales practice rules based on voluntary guidelines created by the Investment Funds Institute of Canada (IFIC), that country's mutual fund trade group.The guidelines call for...
Investment Management & Research isn't exactly a household name, but in 10 years it might be. Or, at least that's what M. Anthony Greene, IM&R's president, hopes.The Atlanta-based independent financial services firm has launched a national...
The National Association of Securities Dealers is taking some heat for a new clause it quietly inserted in some broker/dealers' restriction agreements that limits a member's right to sue the SRO.The wording, added to some new agreements this year...
In recent public appearances, Christos Cotsakos, founder and head of E*TRADE, has predicted that "Traditional brokerages will die a slow, painful death." And "All those branch offices the industry has are going to become fast food outlets, so you...
When John Hantz led a mass defection out of American Express Financial Advisors' Detroit office lastOctober, he made both waves and headlines--and discovered the ways in which a former employer can use the temporary restraining order (TRO) process...
In a wide-ranging early morning address last February to investors at a conference sponsored by the Los Angeles Times, SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt encouraged the crowd to ask their brokers how the rep was paid, and if they'd be better off in a fee...