Practice Management

Warren Buffett has said, I choose to work with every single person that I work with. That ends up being the most important factor. I don't interact with people I don't like or admire. That's the key. It's like marrying. In that spirit, ponder the...

For years, regulators have considered altering the 12b-1 fees imposed on mutual funds. But despite hearings and public debate, no new rules have appeared. Now the SEC seems poised to issue a major proposal that would cap 12b-1 fees on C-shares and...

Many brokerage-industry watchers agree that mergers and acquisitions can be rather tiresome for clients, eroding their confidence in the firms and, often, in the reps, too. Considering the wave of deal-making in the brokerage industry of late, you...

A lot of JPMorgan Chase employees are going to be in search of new digs very soon. The firm is expected to shed itself of 4,000 of its own staff about half of whom will be replaced by incoming Bear Stearns employees. But not all of Bear's ranks...

When it Began, the credit crisis had little to do with retail brokerage. After all, the fixed income departments were the ones who made the bad mortgage bets that have since unraveled, resulting in a pileup of more than $200 billion dollars in...

A former UBS private banker, Bradley Birkenfield, charged with helping U.S. clients evade millions in taxes is going to plead guilty in court next month, reports The Times Online, the web edition of the fabled London-based newspaper.

Let's take a contrarian viewpoint regarding success. Much has been written about the typical qualities required for success. (In fact, I covered those in this column last month.) But consider a favorite phrase of the great algebraist, Karl Jacobi...

On April 28, 2003, the SEC, the NASD, the NYSE and various states announced a $1.4-billion landmark settlement with 10 of Wall Street's largest broker/dealers for failing to provide independent and unbiased research. The day after the announcement...