Preparing for a Sale: How Advisors Can Maximize the Value of Their Firm

Sep 07, 2016

The ultimate goal for many advisors who own their own firm is to eventually sell their business for a profit. While there are countless ways to increase a firm’s value before a sale in order to receive the most money possible, advisors can...

Go It Alone? Or Use a Recruiter?

Sep 07, 2016

What do advisors who manage $2 billion, $500 million and $100 million in client assets have in common? I’ve found that integrity, objectivity and a fiduciary mindset guide their service model, in addition...

CFP Board Reaches 75,000 Certificants

Sep 07, 2016

The ranks of Certified Financial Planners just crossed 75,000, the CFP Board announced Tuesday. The CFP designation dates back to 1973, when the first group completed a course at the College for Financial Planning. In 1985, the College create...

Industry Groups to SEC: Business Continuity Failures Are Not Fraud

Sep 07, 2016

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a rule in June requiring investment advisors to put in place business continuity and transition plans. But the requirement would be part of a new anti-fraud rule, a move the Investment Adviser...

Service Is the “New” Sales

Sep 06, 2016

Recently, I was in the presence of a cynical financial advisor asking for “words of wisdom” in what was essentially marketing her services to cynical affluent prospects. ...

Small RIAs Are Not Doomed

Sep 06, 2016

There’s a common misconception that smaller RIA firms, those under $300 million in assets under management, are on a path to extinction. The general message is, if your small firm isn’t dead yet, it will be soon...

Paying Down Debt Beats Investing

Sep 06, 2016

Click to Enlarge More Americans are concerned about reducing their debt than investing and saving for the future, according to a new report by BMO Wealth Management. The report, which polled 1,018 adults online, found that 31 percent said debt...

How to Handle Couples Who Fight

Sep 06, 2016

It was early in her career that Michelle Fait, who now heads Satori Financial in San Francisco, first experienced working with a couple who openly fought in front of her. It seemed the husband expected their children to fund more of their college...