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.
With credit markets jittery and the economy on the lip of recession (or in recession, depending upon whom you ask), real estate funds have plummeted. During the 12 months ending in January 2008, the category lost 21 percent. Should investors stay...
Cambridge Investment Research, Inc. 1776 Pleasant Plain Road; Fairfield, IA 52556800.777.6080www.joincir.com Number of Back-Office Employees*: 245 Number of Advisors: 1,108 Total Client Assets Under Management: $31 billion Advisors' Average Length...
Bear markets are shrinking. According to Leuthold Weeden Institutional Research, in a typical post-WWII bear market, the S&P 500 declined 30 percent over 15 months. By comparison, bear markets typically saw declines of 37 percent over 20 months...
Woodbury Financial Services 500 Bielenberg Drive; Woodbury, MN 55125800-800-2000www.woodburyfinancial.com Number of Back-Office Employees: 259 Number of advisors: 1,700 Total Client Assets Under Management: $3.97 billion Advisors' Average Length...
Academics have long scorned actively managed mutual funds. Instead of spending money on managers who attempt to beat the market (however that is defined), academics argue, investors should stick with index funds. Lately the index proponents have...
If you work for one of the major wirehouses, you're in pain. If you're a commission-based rep, business is slow. And if you are a fee-based rep, your fees are dropping along with the value of client accounts. And if you are in a deferred...
Wilkes Thomas Martin III joined Morgan Keegan & Co., Inc. as a financial advisor and senior vice president in the firm's Greenville office. Prior to joining Morgan Keegan, Martin was a corporate client group director and senior investment...
Let's face it. Choosing an independent broker/dealer to join isn't easy. There are literally thousands, and each firm claims to offer the best. In a continuing effort to help our readers become more familiar with their options, we've asked the...
Competing fiercely for the attention of investors, fund companies have brought out a wave of specialized offerings. Many of the choices which include mutual funds and exchange-trade funds focus on hot-sounding industries, or growing areas of the...
Consider the Curious and Rather Grotesque Case of Gary J. Gross, a financial advisor from (where else?) Boca Raton, Fla. Gross' U4 is close to 100 pages long, and lists 35 customer complaints (33 of them settled) amassed at several firms over the...
