New SEC rules that require federally-registered advisors to disclose their disciplinary histories in brochures and provide them to clients will get under way in earnest by the end of the summer. The initiative, aimed at improving transparency for...

Broker/dealer executives who speak at their national conventions often aim for a tone that rallies the troops, and the Raymond James Financial Services conference in Las Vegas this week followed the pattern—with one surprising exception...

Dallas: “What does your research say is the #1 reason for an affluent prospect to select one financial advisor over another?” asked Tony during the Q & A session following my keynote. This is a question that every advisor wants...

After months at the negotiating table with clients who filed arbitration and class action claims against the firm, Securities America is one step closer to getting the OK on a $150 million settlement. Friday, Judge W. Royal Furgeson Jr. of U.S...

A great deal has been written in the last decade about trust-owned life insurance (TOLI) and the responsibilities and obligations of trustees/fiduciaries of irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs). Although descriptions of a TOLI may be...

In 2008, the generation had just begun to enter retirement when the great recession intervened, postponing plans for many, shattering dreams for some and suspending dialogue on a host of issues unique to wealth management and transfer for this...

The passage of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the 2010 Tax Relief Act) has opened an unexpected window of opportunity for the tax-exempt transfer of significantly more wealth to the next...