Can the folks who market variable annuities and have gotten slammed by regulators for how they line their pockets in the process force the industry that the products to roll back prices and simplify mind-boggling fee schedules? Can they, in fact...

The story of insurance sales in the brokerage industry is one of untapped potential. According to a recent survey by Registered Rep. and The Hartford Life Insurance Co., 69 percent of registered reps are licensed to sell life insurance products...

IT TOOK SOME TIME, but the brokerage industry finally is coming to terms with the death in the family. In this case, the dear departed is a way of operating that is now gone for good. Like any mourner, the industry has collectively gone through...

For E. W. (Woody) Young, one day stands above all others for showering his lady clients with love: Feb. 14. Each Valentine's Day, Young, who runs Quest Capital Management in Dallas, hosts a lunch for his unmarried female clients. Though such a...

A casual visitor to Van Pearcy's Web site could be excused for thinking the man runs a car dealership. The home page at vanpearcy.com is dominated by two photos one of parking lot full of antique cars and the other of the tan Mr. Pearcy himself...

Mark Little, a San Antonio-based broker gave away 99 percent of his clients. And that, he says, is the best thing he has ever done to boost his income.

About a year-and-a-half ago, John Marshall surveyed his client roster and decided it was time to go after the really big bucks. The likeliest avenue, he figured, was gathering prospects through referrals from existing accounts. Marshall, an...

In the first settlement of its kind, the NASD hit Raymond James with a $750,000 fine Wednesday for improperly putting certain clients in fee-based brokerage accounts. The NASD said Raymond James Financial will terminate its fee-based brokerage...

For years, reps have been told that separately managed accounts (SMAs), were being The institutional-quality management, tax efficiency, transparency and customization that had made SMAs so popular among high-net-worth individuals would be...

For advisors looking to expand a practice quickly, purchasing a book of clients was once the most expedient solution. Robert Enright learned the hard way that it isn't necessarily so anymore. Enright, of the Burton/Enright Group in Walnut Creek...