Raymond James Financial Services (RJFS) has launched a program to help small banks and credit unions deliver “wealth management” services to their affluent customers. “Community banks have missed an entire strata of their client...

For years, Morningstar has provided research tools to financial advisers. But now the company has decided to get into the advisory business. Morningstar, a Chicago-based provider of investment information and analytical tools, has announced it...

Customers shouldn't get embroiled in employment disputes. That was the majority view of commenters on an NASDR-proposed rule interpretation that would prohibit customer account freezes during employment disputes. Firms often are successful in...

Not all brokers who jump into the banking environment find this strange new world refreshing. Ask any bank broker about the advantages of working inside a bank and you'll get an earful about foot traffic, the captive audience that parades past...

It's interesting to watch the lone wolf culture on Wall Street disappear. Take the Merrill Lynch team of Linda Stirling and John Folsom (see Million-Dollar Producers, Page 55). Folsom, already a successful broker on his own, agreed to join forces...

Has Wall Street finally lowered its testosterone level? The nurturing female rep who listens well and builds well-functioning teams is seen by some as a role model for all brokers. Women brokers talk about a much more female-friendly industry...

Tennis is life, says Scott Schultz, a rep at LaSalle Street Securities in Williamston, Mich. He has had a 10-year love affair with the game. Schultz is a coach, certified United States Tennis Association official and self-admitted tennis dad. As a...

The NASDR's wrist slap was disappointing. E*Trade had almost $2.5 billion in sales last year, yet the fine levied was only $90,000! Do you remember comments Christos Cotsakos, CEO of E*Trade, made in September 1997 at the Montgomery Securities...

Richard Kelley wants to teach his three children a valuable lesson and he's willing to give away more than $1 million to do it. We want our kids to learn how to give money away, says Kelley, a veteran broker with Dain Rauscher in Omaha, Neb. And...

Firms that freeze the client accounts of brokers who leave, be warned: Don't try it in Utah. The Utah Division of Securities has threatened to sanction Salomon Smith Barney and yank the license of a Salomon Smith Barney branch manager who refused...