Morgan Stanley is requiring that an increasing number of its branch office managers begin producing. The move is an outgrowth of its office "complexing" strategy, which groups together multiple branches under a single manager.
In the old days, trusts departments were backwaters in which investment programs had to conform to the most conservative of standards. Servicing the trust market was hardly a business that generated much excitement. But baby boomers and their...
The confusing slew of regulations that have followed on the heels of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has tapped a strange feeling in brokers: the fear of violating securities rules unwittingly. A recent investigation by the NASD shows their worries are not...
Is that an eye chart or a business card? It's a fair question to ask many financial advisors. Faced with a full hand of acronyms to describe their various certifications and designations, brokers are showing them off in e-mails, resumes...
Last December, when Paul O'Neill resigned as treasury secretary, the rumor mill churned out a number of potential nominees including one Charles Schwab. John Snow of CSX got the nod, but the mere prospect of Mr. Schwab going to Washington set us...
Robert Augustus Gardner Monks, one of the world's best-known shareholder activists, has been called a traitor to his class. Born in Boston to a wealthy, powerful family whose origins in the U.S. predate the Revolution, Monks rejected a life of...
It's a hirer's market out there, but brokerage firms have not stopped recruiting. In fact, although it is quieter than usual, many firms are still willing to pony up big bucks in hopes of attracting top-shelf talent. But today's compensation...
Five years ago, the story of Section 529 plans might best have been summarized by the following headline: College Savings Plans Explode in Popularity. However, in the wake of the current multiple-year bear market, those headlines today might be...
It shouldn't take a tragedy to learn about the importance of business succession plans, but that's what drove the point home to Mike Curry. Curry, of the Los Angeles-based AFP Group, a member of Royal Alliance, worked with a 77-year-old advisor...
