Clients can be happily married and still disagree about their investments. Here's how to "broker" the conflicts.Tim is an aggressive investor. He wants high-risk, high-return stocks, tech stocks and dot-com stocks. He dreams of earning 23 percent...
Candace Rey, First Union Securities, Burlington, N.C.When Candace Rey was in Hawaii with First Union Securities' Chairman's Circle this past year, she ran into some co-workers from her former employer. To say the least, they were stunned."They...
Even though Congress ordered the General Accounting Office (GAO) to look into high mutual fund fees and profits, no one yet can say exactly how lucrative the mutual fund business is.A GAO report released in July cites data from Strategic Insight...
The production plateau--it's an unpleasant place most brokers experience at some point in their careers. So there are lessons to learn from those who have struggled off flat land.Meet four brokers who broke through the frustration to double, even...
In the face of rising redemption rates, the mutual fund industry is worried about shortened holding periods. Yet fund researchers say fund holding patterns haven't budged from historical norms.A few years ago, the annual redemption rate was 10...
Independent firms may be booming, but there are some rough spots to overcome. Stability, consolidation and regulatory problems are just a few.Forging Stability There are two questions about stability in the independent world--does the broker...
A.G. Edwards says all of its 6,800 retail brokers will be equipped with the firm's new ClientOne workstation by the end of October. And despite some complaints about not being able to install unauthorized software programs on the new computers...
Walter Cash, A.G. Edwards, Pine Bluff, Ark.Walter Cash's frustration with his business had peaked. So he sought some advice. He contacted John Hagedorn, vice president and manager of continuing education at A.G. Edwards, for help."I had plateaued...
Prudential Investments has launched a new service called the Prestige Program that offers reps with wealthy clients a liaison to firm experts.Under the program, the firm pairs a "Prestige Analyst" with a broker or insurance agent. A rep then...
Prudential Securities seems to be leading the charge in the undeclared bidding war for brokers."It's the craziest thing," says a Prudential rep on the West Coast. "They'll pay 150 percent of gross, and they won't spend one dime to retain...