Last month's column discussed the importance of helping clients maximize the amount of money available to pay for higher education expenses specifically, by encouraging parents to apply for financial aid. But it's what you tell them to do with...

A broker instructs his assistant to select five equities for a client's portfolio and to make a note of the price of each. But the assistant gets confused. Instead of pricing the equities individually, the assistant makes as many pairings of the...

Fidelity named Peter Cieszkoas as president of Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Company. Cieszkoas was formerly president and chief executive officer of Evergreen Investments. Fidelity also announced the appointment of Ed Orazem, former...

Ponzi, Ponzi Everywhere: The SEC either has a coincidental backlog of Ponzi scheme cases closing in the wake of Bernard Madoff, or the agency has put a premium on busting Madoff wannabes as quickly as possible. Since Madoff's arrest in December...

Byron S. Rainner, a former registered representative for MetLife Financial Services, pleaded guilty in Georgia federal court to one count of wire fraud involving a scheme that targeted the Sheriff's Office of Fulton County, Georgia (clearly, not...

A musician and former college teacher recently turned independent advisor, wants to build his practice around two target markets artists and non-profits and his passion for socially responsible investing. He's just not quite sure how to pull it...

When you read the 2005 Markopolos letter to the SEC, which warned the regulator about Bernard Madoff, what jumps out at you is how many professionals on Wall Street were actually suspicious of Madoff's business.

Benjamin Franklin once said: He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money. Sure, when you decide to switch firms, you may well want to pay attention to the dollar signs. But there are a lot...

With markets collapsing last fall, Nicholas Rowe, a financial advisor with Focus Capital, a registered investment advisor in Bedford, New Hampshire that clears trades through Schwab Institutional, began buying inverse exchange-traded funds (ETFs)...

For the past half-decade or more, financial advisors have been shifting from commissions to fees as they seek steadier revenue flows, pursue greater flexibility with client accounts and offer more planning services. And yet, for the industry...