It is at once the simplest and most complex question a rep can ask: How many clients are too many? Clearly, a rep cannot service an unlimited number of customers at least not effectively. Still, it's not as though an alarm sounds when the customer...
Edward Jones has been hit with a fine of $2.7 million by the NASD. NASD ruled in an arbitration hearing that one of the firm's brokers overloaded a client's account with unsuitable investments on margin. William and Jean Torrence, clients of...
If you don't look too closely, you might think the securities industry is in a golden age. After all, the thing that matters most profits is up. Way up. The Securities Industry Association estimates that pre-tax profits for the broker/dealer...
When it comes to developing new business, Tom Croft has a foolproof weapon. Six years ago, Croft, a rep with Edward Jones in Santa Rosa, Calif., joined a referral network called Sonoma County Executives Association a group of some 70 business...
Vision, integrity and a return to common-sense investing were the main themes for financial advisors at Raymond James Financial's national conference. Chet Helck, president and COO of Raymond James Financial Services, kicked off the mid-October...
Some of the knowledge required to acquire Series a 7 flees a rep's brain before the test scores have even been computed a process that takes mere minutes. The rules governing the actions of associated persons (APs) appear to be a case in point. By...
CONSIDER YOUR OPTIONS “The stock went up, but my call didn’t!” “My call doubled when the stock rose only $2!” Some of the most commonly expressed frustrations with options are about how option prices change. This...
Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes, said Sir Francis Bacon, and I couldn't agree more. When it comes to attracting and retaining affluent clients the sorts of clients that deliver an advisor the prosperity he's in business to...
Until recently, there was little danger of confusing SEC filings with anything interesting say a best-selling novel or a hard-hitting newspaper story. In the days before the scandals, plowing through SEC documents, such as 10-Qs, 10-Ks and proxy...
