After essentially sitting on the sidelines during 2014, private equity firms and banks were again buying up RIA firms in the first quarter of 2015, executing 19 percent of the record-breaking 34 transactions recorded by DeVoe & Company. Private e...

Man vs. Machine In the ongoing debate about robo-advisors, one argument that technology detractors like to fall back on is that an algorithm can’t provide the same service as a flesh-and-blood advisor. MarketWatch decided to put that idea ...

Too many cooks? | designaart/iStock/Thinkstock If you have some eggs about to expire, or a car that has problems, you can turn to an online community to find some solutions. But what if you have a financial issue, like what to do with a wi...

It can be stressful to find the right practice for purchase. But even the best advisory practices can have issues, so it’s important to know when to step away. “We talk about the competitive landscape and I hear it all the time in the industr...

After rolling out the electronic signature capabilities in December, the leaders of Raymond James’ technology operations say advisors at the firm have been surprisingly slow to utilize the oft-demanded tool. “Adoption was slow at the start,” ...

There's a reason they call him, 'The Oracle.' | Copyright Bill Pugliano, Getty Images Which financial experts do investors have the most confidence in? According to a new Spectrem Group study, Warren Buffett has the highest credibility, co...

“Growth at our firm is about assets and revenues – not numbers of advisors,” Scott Curtis, president of Raymond James Financial Services, told attendees at the firm’s national conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Advisor headcount is up abo...

Welcome back. Every Friday night for 32 years Americans watched Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser. Always crisply dressed, Rukeyser, who died in 2006, was the ideal financial talk show host: He had the air of a patrician but with a misc...

Do you believe? | Copyright Keystone, Getty Images Earlier this year Fidelity got a lot of attention with its proposal that those making even less than $150,000 a year could still save over $1 million in their 401(k) accounts, if they star...

Long live the king. | Copyright Christopher Furlong, Getty Images Financial adviser numbers have stabilized in the United Kingdom after five years of sharp decline, according to a report from the Association of Professional Financial Advis...