The trouble with hedge funds is not necessarily their expense. The real deal breakers for financial advisors with wealthy clients who have sophisticated needs are that hedge funds tend to be illiquid and lack transparency. There are registered...
A Chicago financial advisor recently lamented to me: I feel like we're offering a complete array of wealth-management products and services, but we aren't as consistent in delivering those products and services as we should be. The advisor's...
When Eric Brotman started the Brotman Financial Group, a small advisory firm in Timonium, Md., three years ago, he required job applicants to take personality tests. After spending about a $1,000 on the exams, including a consultant to administer...
Our interests may not always be the same as yours. Imagine telling your clients that. And then imagine saying 20 minutes later, But now that we're discussing your comprehensive planning needs, I'm acting in your best interests, because I've put on...
If you thought you had it bad calls unreturned, prospective clients canceling meetings pity the mutual fund wholesaler. First, many more are out of work than just a few years ago and, on average, they are earning less. Their jobs have also gotten...
Ric Edelman's firm puts up incredible numbers. Edelman Financial Services of Fairfax, Va., has $2.75 billion in assets under management and counsels 7,500 clients. Last year, the firm generated $17 million in gross revenue, making EFS one of the...
As the SEC's new General Counsel, Brian Cartwright may not have as cool a name as outgoing GC Giovanni Prezioso, but he's no stuffed shirt either. Before launching his career in securities law in the 80s, Cartwright was a rocket scientist. He also...
For Merrill Lynch and UBS, allegations of widespread racial discrimination put a damper on an otherwise stellar year for the firms. Both wirehouses were named in separate lawsuits seeking class-action status on account of black brokers that allege...
The mechanics of regulatory bodies only occasionally attracts the interests of rank-and-file advisors, like back in 1996 when the Nasdaq market was nailed for price fixing. It wasn't just investors that were paying too much for a trade: Small...
Sick of SEC examiners and the their practice of ? Congressional reps, Michael Castle (R-Del.) and Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.) introduced a bill in the House of Representatives just before Christmas that would abolish the arm of the SEC that conducts...
