The independent broker/dealer landscape is lately littered with tales of woe—scores of smaller firms have gone up in a puff of smoke over the past two years due to everything from troubled private placements to insufficient net capital. In...
While the downturn of 2008 devastated mutual funds, there was one side benefit, albeit a perverse one: Investors had little reason to worry about capital gains at tax time. Now that the bull market is in its third year, many funds are again...
Ladenburg Thalmann, parent company of Triad Advisors and Investacorp, has emerged as a potential buyer of Securities America, which Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP) announced plans to sell in late April, according to several industry sources. One...
Morgan Keegan may soon be for sale after agreeing to a $210 million settlement with federal, state and industry regulators over issues related to subprime mortgage-backed securities.
Wealth managers need to make key changes in the way they do business to stay competitive, two major studies of the industry have concluded. For example, wealth managers need to leverage “cross-enterprise capabilities” that may reside...
The first domino in this cascade of disaster fell on Sept. 17, 2008, when an unidentified Merrill Lynch registered representative received an email customer complaint. It said that the representative had entered an unauthorized order for Fannie...
The first thing you learn in Economics 101 is that “there is no such thing as a free lunch.” In other words, when you get something of value, you usually give up something of value. Hopefully the exchange is equal and you know what you...
