How much more can we possibly disclose?""I already disclose everything! It's ludicrous!"These are some of the comments from CFPs regarding a proposal from the CFP Board of Standards requesting more detailed compensation disclosures.The proposal...

As a registered rep, are you in the "advice" business? That's the question at the heart of a contested SEC rule proposal.The SEC's answer is, somewhat surprisingly, no. Agency staff is arguing that your advice giving is not a main part of your...

Exactly one month after PaineWebber closed on its purchase of Nashville, Tenn.-based regional J.C. Bradford, Bradford reps learned they were to become part of UBS Warburg, billed as one of the top five international banks.That was a shock for at...

Vacationing with clients may not be for you if you want to leave work behind during your off hours. But if building business relationships is your ceaseless pursuit and if you have shared interests with clients, mixing business and pleasure can be...

"At first I was afraid, I was petrified."Even brokers must get used to market risk, the attendees think."Kept thinkin' I could never live without you by my side."Well, brokers do need clients."But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did...

Forget boilerplate agendas and scattershot mailing lists. Salomon Smith Barney brokers Corinne Miller Crabs and Angela Sutter listened to their women clients, took a fresh approach to seminars and issued invitations selectively. Lunch at Microsoft...

Should mutual funds be required to disclose the details of payments made to brokerage firms?The NASD says yes. But the SEC says it's not sure.An NASD rule requires detailed disclosure by funds of all payments made to specific dealers before the...

Human behavior expert Alfie Kohn has published numerous works decrying reward systems. His writings include "Why Incentive Plans Cannot Work," Harvard Business Review, September-October 1993, and "For Best Results, Forget the Bonus," The New York...

In late June, Merrill Lynch took a step forward in its effort to develop individual broker home pages by signing an agreement with Vignette Corp. of Austin, Texas. Merrill will use Vignette's content management software to create a digital library...

Retail broker production and pay hit another record high in 1999--a fifth year of consecutively larger numbers.Data released in August by the SIA show that reps' median gross commissions and fees increased 4.8 percent from 334,397 dollars in 1998...