Charles R. Schwab last week called the fundamental indexes underlying his company’s three newest mutual funds “a better mousetrap,” but The Vanguard Group Inc. and Barclays Global Investors smell a rat.
CHICAGO — A bill that would extend to domes- tic partners the preferred tax treatment enjoyed by married couples in employer-sponsored health-care plans is attracting attention from financial advisers.
NEW YORK — Raymond James & Associates Inc. recruited 36 registered representatives during the first quarter, compared with the 43 reps hired during the year-earlier period.
NEW YORK — Financial advisers can safely increase their clients’ retirement income by 50% or more by structuring withdrawals differently, according to a certified public accountant who specializes in retirement income planning.
OTTAWA — The gambit by the Canadian Securities Administrators to get Ontario involved in a new, improved passport system of regulation led to a stalemate when the Ontario Securities Commission said: Nothing doing.
SAN FRANCISCO — In selling one of its subsidiaries to a California bank, Lydian Trust Co. is preparing to bolster its presence on its home turf.
NEW YORK — As long as the stock market keeps rising, and baby boomers keep getting older, variable annuity sales should continue to be robust, industry observers say.
The stock market has remained unsettled since the big plunge of Feb. 27, but many financial advisers report few worries, attributing their well-being to the risk management inoculation they have given their client portfolios.
Industry participants were unhappy to learn that repeal will be an option as the Securities and Exchange Commission takes a hard look at the 12(b)-1 rule, which allows mutual funds to generate billions of dollars in fees.
By now, the merits of asset and stock diversification in a retirement portfolio are well established, but what about tax diversification?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday overturned the Securities and Exchange Commission’s broker-dealer exemption rule in a 2-1 decision.
The structured-products industry is taking its message directly to consumers with coordinated marketing and educational efforts designed to demystify the often-complex, intermediary-sold alternative investments.
Passive investing is gaining favor among wealth managers, according to bankers, vendors and industry consultants.
Congressional members on both sides of the aisle are looking at using the alternative minimum tax debate to lead the way to a plan for tax simplification.
NASD will put increasing emphasis on “principles based” regulation rather than “one size fits all” rulemaking, even as it concedes that such a move could confuse many in the brokerage industry.
The profile of “green’’ investors has changed. They aren’t just mature demonstrators of the 1960s with extra cash in their accounts.
In an effort to connect better with customers, financial services companies of all stripes are spending more on information technology, according to one analyst.
SAN FRANCISCO — The days when registered investment advisers could remain as cloistered and mysterious to outsiders as a John Grisham-style law firm may be drawing to a close.
WASHINGTON — Those who bet that the U.S. stock market’s fairly steady climb since last summer was too good to last were winners last month.
The financial planning world has been focusing too heavily on the act of accumulating assets, according to an academic speaking at the InvestmentNews Retirement Summit in New York this afternoon.
