The SEC narrowly succeeded in passing a final rule requiring hedge fund advisors to register under the Investment Adviser Act of 1940. The commission says the measure will benefit all involved parties, including investors, but many observers say...
If there’s one thing to be learned from “all weather” investment strategies such as muni laddering, it’s this: there is such a thing as too conservative.
As effective as cost-cutting can be, there comes a point in every business diet when there is no more fat to cut. Such is the case now in the brokerage industry.
On Nov. 5, when SEC Chairman William Donaldson addressed the Securities Industry Association's annual meeting in Boca Raton, Fla., it was an uncomfortable moment for brokerage executives. Donaldson recited a litany of costly scandals...
Anyone who has ever let household chores get the better of him is well-acquainted with the most significant obstacle facing wannabe high-net-worth advisors: inertia. You can look at those cracks in the bedroom ceiling every day when you lie down...
The image of the strong, silent loner is a powerful one in this country, but it loses some of its potency when applied to the modern brokerage industry as Ray Ferrara can attest. Ferrara started out his career as a solo practitioner in Clearwater...
Six years ago, Hilliard Lyons, a successful small broker/dealer with roots dating back to 1854, shocked many by selling itself to PNC Bank. To many, the Louisville, Ky., b/d was the model small firm, a master of its own destiny and consistently...
The American Jobs Creation Act is on its face aimed specifically at large, multinational corporations, but it also packs plenty of positives for small-business owners. The catch is that finding these positives and applying them to a specific...
When Sallie Krawcheck was brought in to run Smith Barney two years ago, she was hailed as a savior Mrs. Clean, the last honest research analyst and the best choice possible to turn around a company mired in the infamous WorldCom research scandal...
