Financial advisors know too well that optimism can be a negative force especially when it is applied to planning for a client's medical care. People from all walks of life tend to think positively when it comes to assessing their own chances for...

In the wake of the Wall Street scandals of the past few years, it was inevitable that government regulators would take a look at how the self-regulatory organizations (SROs), such as the NYSE and the NASD, were doing their jobs. If the SROs were...

What advisor couldn't build a respectable practice just serving the needs of doctors, lawyers and MBAs? Six- (and even seven-) figure incomes, smart, well connected and, most importantly, too busy to handle their own investments. Research suggests...

Big full-service brokerage houses like Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Smith Barney have long tried to have it both ways: hiring brokers as employees in an effort to own the client relationships, while treating brokers like independent...

The SEC has charged four brokers and a daytrader with cheating investors through a fraudulent scheme that used squawk boxes to eavesdrop on confidential order flow information, enabling them to trade ahead of large orders at more favorable prices...

Peter Scannell wants his cut. The former Putnam Investments employee, who blew the whistle on the Boston-based fund giant's market-timing practices, has filed a lawsuit seeking 30 percent of the firm's $50 million fine, according to a report in...

Advisors trolling for small business clients are discovering what mate-seeking singles have known for years: cyberspace is the place. The old methods of small business prospecting, such as hanging around the Chambers of Commerce and Kiwanis clubs...