In this section we present key findings and insights from our survey questions on practice management and operations, including services offered, the most time-consuming activities, professional designations, custody relationships and documentation trends.
The SEC sent a warning to b/d executives Monday about the recruiting bonuses they pay to advisors, saying they could create conflicts of interest. In an open letter to b/d CEOs, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro “reminded” them of their...
Sure, stocks have been on a tear since March. But the S&P 500 is still off by 7 percent over the last 12 months. Not surprisingly, assets held at wealth management houses have shrunk by a $3 trillion (to $10.8 trillion) in 2008, according to data...
Wirehouse reps are increasingly looking beyond Wall Street firms these days. The proportion of wirehouse advisors switching to another has fallen steadily over the past year, while the number going to independent b/ds and RIAs, as well as to...
In a story titled Picking an RIA that ran in our August issue, we incorrectly stated that HighTower Advisors managed $3 billion in client assets. In fact, it manages $15 billion in assets. We sincerely regret the error.
Bears have become increasingly confident that the current equity market rally 49 percent in the S&P 500 from the March trough is due for a substantial correction. The latest indicator: The zeal with which company insiders are selling their shares...
Benjamin F. (Tad) Edwards hired Michael Petiford and Tim Reese from Wells Fargo to join his newly formed St. Louis-based broker/dealer. Edwards is the son of Benjamin F. Edwards III, the former chairman and chief executive of A.G. Edwards & Sons...
The last 12 months or so have provided plenty of angst in the financial services industry. In the calendar year 2008, the value of U.S. household assets plummeted by $11.2 trillion, or about 18 percent, the worst annual drop since the Fed began...
According to London's Daily Telegraph demand for gold has fallen to a six-year low, and jewelry buyers and electronic producers might be to blame. Buyers of jewelry are the main drivers of the gold prices, accounting for more than 50 percent of...
Stewart Lee, a former branch office manager who heads Wellston, Okla.-based Lee Training a consulting and practice management firm which helps develop SIFMA's Branch Manager Development Program says that when he was a branch manager in the 1970s...
