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.
Merrill Lynch confirmed that 6,200 advisors, or about 37 percent of all Merrill financial advisors, signed a retention agreement from new parent company Bank of America by 4 p.m. on Friday. But Merrill says that only about half of the firm's...
Registered Rep. readers, most of whom are Republicans or Independents, are not too enthusiastic about the country’s new president Barack Obama—even though securities and investment firms ponied up $12.65 million in funds for Obama&...
The top 50 financial advisors at Merrill Lynch aren’t happy with the wording of their retention package, and they’ve taken the first step towards getting changes made by collectively hiring a lawyer.
Smart decisions are based on more than government statistics, agency reports, news releases, interest rates and stock quotes. We've selected a few fascinating statistics here that illuminate the markets, the world of financial services and big...
I have a friend, a financial advisor, who keeps what he calls The Yell-At-Tom Index. (His name is Tom.) Interestingly, The Yell-At-Tom Index (TYAT) is low right now, he says. That's right. Despite the utter carnage in the equity markets, the...
Market share shifts in periods of crisis just ask Jamie Dimon. You have to make bold moves to get a maximum share of the opportunity. If you are in a rut, there is no better time to consider transforming yourself. No one can attest to the power of...
If you have small-business clients, they may be desperate for cash right now or worried about having enough cash in the coming months. With the government's mid-October announcement that it plans to take stakes in the country's major banks, credit...
Searching for the perfect niche, an independent advisor in southern Florida thinks she's hit the jackpot widows. But how best to go about cultivating them as clients? To offer her advice, we asked for comments from our panel of experts: Hellen...
Michael Corbat certainly has his work cut out for him. Tapped to head up Citigroup's Global Wealth Management unit (GWM) in the middle of the global financial crisis, Corbat is walking into a banged-up Smith Barney franchise. (Of course, what big...
