Sooner or later, we, as estate-planning professionals, are exposed to the frustration of clients or beneficiaries who ignore our advice and act in a manner that's financially self-destructive. Often, this situation arises in the fiduciary context...
The Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act (the HIRE Act)1 of 2010, found in Internal Revenue Code Section 6038D, enacted foreign asset disclosure rules that apply to most U.S. taxpayers for the first time this tax filing season. Here's an...
RIA custodians like Schwab and TD Ameritrade may be stealing business away from the IBDs. According to a report by Cerulli Associates, 76 percent of dually-registered advisors' assets were held as fee assets under their own RIA in 2011, up from 72...
Does Merrill Edge, Merrill Lynch's brokerage, banking and financial advice platform for the mass affluent, compete directly with Merrill financial advisors? We couldn't get a straight yes or no from Prasad, but that's probably because...
When it comes to what they are paying their advisors, investors are clueless. A 2011 survey by Cerulli Associates and Phoenix Marketing International found that 31 percent of investors were not sure how their advisors were compensated, while...
Most advisors are most interested in working with individuals who have the most money to manage. This usually means those who are about to retire or have just done so. But many of these clients have one thing on their minds that may be even more...
National Planning Corporation has expanded its recruiting team with the addition of Scott Montgomery and Keith Mistretta as vice presidents of new business development. Montgomery joins from FirstPoint Partners, a consulting and recruiting firm...
Commercial mortgage REITs are well-positioned to take advantage of increased borrower demand and the upcoming wave of maturing commercial property loans, although some risks remain. Demand for commercial real estate loans, as reported by the Fed...
Fool Me Twice Robert Pinkas was not deterred the first time, SEC charges suggest. The regulator says Pinkas stole $173,000 from a fund client to cover the costs of defending himself in a separate investigation. Pinkas then lied to the client about...
