Philadelphia: "I'm overwhelmed! I feel there is so much that needs to change, but I don't know where to start," said Jerry with a groan. He then proceeded to pose a classic question: "Do you have any suggestions?"
Okay—so, you’ve sold your clients on the potential estate-tax benefit to be achieved with a qualified personal residence trust (QPRT). And you’ve explained that, with a married couple, the benefits can be even greater if each...
Immediate fixed annuities and deferred fixed annuities are finding a growing market in the wake of the financial market meltdown. It’s no wonder. Their guaranteed payout rates are more than 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively at a time...
As Wells Fargo begins its summer-long re-branding of Wachovia and A.G. Edwards, some financial advisors at what is now the largest retail brokerage firm in the U.S.—16,000 FAs—say the integration of the Wachovia and A.G. Edwards is...
Surprise exams and reviews by third party accountants: These are the new measures the SEC proposed on Thursday to combat ponzi schemes like the one Bernie Madoff pulled off last December. Ponzi schemes have been piling up over the past several...
Can a rank-and-file Series 7 holder who works for a major national broker/dealer ever truly work as a fiduciary? Go to VonAldo.com, the blog of Registered Rep. Editor-in-Chief David A. Geracioti.
In this brutal market, advisors generating less than $300,000 in annual revenue are taking payout cuts and being let go, as wirehouse firms seek to cut costs and improve efficiencies. But many of these advisors are finding homes at independent and...
The number of advisors switching firms in April dropped 25 percent versus the number who switched in March. According to Discovery Database, 1,961 reps changed b/ds in April, compared with 2,624 in March.
At the Investment Company Institute’s 51st General Membership meeting last week in Washington, D.C., speaker after speaker warned that the financial crisis has changed markets permanently.
Morgan Stanley is aggressively dressing itself up to exit TARP. The firm raised $8 billion in new capital on Friday through the sale of debt and equity, over 50 percent more than it announced on Thursday. The funds will cover an $1.8 billion...
