In March 2000, at roughly the peak of the stock market boom, the folks at American Express Financial Advisors felt expansive. The Minneapolis-based subsidiary of American Express announced it wanted to nearly double its advisor ranks to 20,000...

For a variety of reasons, many casual investors imagine that, with a modicum of effort, they can ride wheel-to-wheel with the Lance Armstrongs of investing (a delusion, it must be said, that is actively encouraged by much of the financial press)...

It has been said there are few things more dangerous than a wounded beast; the New York Stock Exchange seems hellbent on proving that rule. The NYSE has had its fair share of black eyes recently, with most of its troubles related to problems...

Since the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, publicly traded companies have had to comply with strict new governance standards. A significant part of the Act increased the role board members must play in terms of the firm's financial dealings and...

The first target has been hit: Directed brokerage is no more, and 12b-1 fees might be in more danger than had been thought. The SEC's recent ban on the practice of directed brokerage was expected. The same cannot be said for the ominous comments...

It's a familiar occurrence these days brokers fighting their former employers over money held in deferred-compensation plans. A group of former Smith Barney advisors recently won a judgment that would return over $8 million in forfeited wages held...

A new study of mutual fund firms' enforcement capabilities affirms what many in the industry have known for some time omnibus accounting practices by fund intermediaries make catching timers virtually impossible. The study, conducted by the...

The fortunes of advisors took a turn for the better in 2003, according to the annual report from the Securities Industry Association. For starters, average gross commissions and fees were up to $372,963, a 4.2 percent rise from 2002, though still...

If there is safety in numbers and comfort in size, fund investors are now putting their need for reassurance on parade. The growth-stock fund companies that raked in the bulk of new dollars in the late 1990s (Janus, Putnam Investments and Alliance...

Change is in the air for wholesalers, thanks to the mutual fund scandals and recent banning of directed-brokerage practices by the SEC. Boston-based Financial Research Corp. recently said in a study that the changes will go beyond increased...