Securities America is just the latest broker/dealer to face financial distress. With so many firms falling into financial or legal hot water lately, financial advisors need to be prepared for the worst. Here’s a checklist for your Plan B.

Wealth managers with family business owners for clients may want to prepare for some rough transitions ahead. A recent PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of more than 1,600 family-owned or managed businesses around the world found that 27 percent...

Social media may be all the rage, but traditional media plays a more important role in wealth managers’ marketing plans for high net worth clients

A U.S. District Court judge denied Securities America’s request Friday to bundle several arbitration claims and class action lawsuits into one $21 million settlement agreement related to allegedly fraudulent private placements sold by the...

The Charles Schwab Corp. (NYSE:SCHW) said today it will pay about $1 billion in stock for optionsXpress Holdings (NASDAQ-GS:OXPS), the retail online brokerage business, in a deal it expects to close in the third quarter. The deal will give Schwab...

Should you pay attention to Morningstar’s star ratings? No, say a growing number of advisors. The stars are based on risk-adjusted past performance, and the past doesn’t necessarily predict the future, the advisors say. Instead of...

Securities America will face a federal court judge Friday to decide whether the independent broker/dealer gets preliminary approval for a $21 million settlement agreement related to allegedly fraudulent private placements sold by the company. Firm...

Lessons learned from the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009 are serving wealth managers well as they—and their clients—confront a cascade of unsettling economic news from the Mideast and Japan.

With Registered Rep.'s Independent Broker/Dealer Report Card, you get a chance to score your own firm — anonymously. In an upcoming issue, we will provide our readers with hard numbers that compare various independent broker/dealers, to see...