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.
Yes, we know: You're not a broker, but a wealth manager or a financial consultant or whatever. That sounds nice, and it may even be true. But to your firm's management, you're still a producer. And that means selling. Whatever style of investing...
These days, it sometimes seems like a chore just to roll out of bed and into work. The market's down, the boss is a pain and the mere thought of cold calling makes you sweat. Maybe a change a new firm with new colleagues would jolt you back into...
It's a typical day at the office Fifty e-mail messages await your reply. Four nervous clients are on hold. Three unfinished financial plans sit on your desk. Another two urgent calls come in. And you still have to prepare for your certified...
A third of our broker compensation survey respondents say their earnings fell by 10 percent to 40 percent in 2001. Still, the respondents remained optimistic for 2002. Crazy optimists or pragmatic realists?
When even H&R Block joins the wealth management fray, you know the competition for upper middle class and affluent investors is feverish. Everyone wants rich investors, and they want to manage all of their money. It's like what infamous Willie...
On one side is a growing group of WorldCom employee-shareholders, who are looking for more than $35 million that they claim was lost because of improper handling of their brokerage accounts. On the other side is Salomon Smith Barney, a major...
The use of noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements is pervasive in the securities industry. These agreements can be the legal equivalent of a ball and chain around a broker's leg, preventing him from exercising the freedom to earn a living...
A number of Wells Fargo bank brokers who have resigned or been terminated contend that the bank is taking compliance overboard--in some cases, for its own purposes.
