Advisor News

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LIFE INSURANCE AND ANNUITIES OCT 18, 2009
Jury: Allianz used deceptive materials to market its two-tiered EIAs

A federal jury in Minnesota ruled last week that Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America used deceptive materials to market its two-tiered equity-indexed annuities, but declined to assess damages against the company, saying that the plaintiffs suffered no harm.

By Darla Mercado
REGULATION AND LEGISLATION OCT 18, 2009
GRAT tax edge may be dulled by new rules

Spurred by low interest rates and a White House proposal that would reduce the benefits of a popular estate-planning vehicle, financial advisers are encouraging wealthy clients to take advantage of that vehicle before it's too late.

By Sara Hansard
REGULATION AND LEGISLATION OCT 18, 2009
Advisers face "slew' of new lawsuits from small-business clients

Financial advisers who have sold certain types of retirement and other benefit plans to small businesses might soon face a wave of lawsuits unless Congress takes action.

By Bloomberg
ALTERNATIVES OCT 18, 2009
Inland Western struggles to pay down debt

One REIT sponsor attracting attention recently from independent broker-dealers is The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies Inc., which sponsors five publicly traded and non-traded REITs.

By Bruce Kelly
FINTECH OCT 18, 2009
Insurance sales without the paper trail

The mountain of paper advisers create when they sell an insurance policy or annuity contract is about to shrink.

By Davis Janowski
RETIREMENT PLANNING OCT 18, 2009
Convert to a Roth? Decision depends on many unknowns

To deal with the “Roth revolution” that starts next year, advisers' best tool may be a crystal ball.

By Jeff Benjamin
REGULATION AND LEGISLATION OCT 18, 2009
Merrill avoids arbitration in loan cases

Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. is pursuing a legal strategy that could give it a leg up in collecting from brokers who owe the firm money on retention packages.

By Dan Jamieson
REGULATION AND LEGISLATION OCT 16, 2009
SEC, CFTC propose fiduciary standard for commodities advisers

The SEC and the CFTC today proposed requiring advisers who recommend commodities to adhere to a fiduciary standard as part of a 20-point plan to improve regulation.

By Sara Hansard
REGULATION AND LEGISLATION OCT 16, 2009
Wall Street has spent $224M to influence financial reforms

$224 million. It's a lot less than $16.7 billion but it could pack far more punch. That's the amount the financial industry spent in the first half of this year to lobby Congress to water down regulations aimed at preventing another financial meltdown. And more money is expected to be on the way.

By Associated Press
RIA NEWS OCT 15, 2009
Mass affluent leaving brokers, making indie advisers their top choice, Spectrem finds

After a year in which many investors lost substantial chunks of their wealth, mass affluent individuals are ditching their full-service brokers in favor of independent financial planners at a significant clip, according to a report released today.

By Staff Report
OPINION OCT 15, 2009
Do we still need ERISA? Only if we want to shortchange savers

With the technological advancements in money management platforms and payroll systems, one has to wonder whether the costs associated with ERISA compliance could be removed from the retirement plan system. If we could safely remove those costs, it's likely we could help employees accumulate between 20% and 30% more money for retirement. So it's worth considering.

By Charles J. Farrell
REGULATION AND LEGISLATION OCT 15, 2009
Former NHL star Sergei Fedorov files new suit connected to $60M in losses from financial adviser

Ex-Detroit Red Wings star Sergei Fedorov is suing his former lawyers, claiming they share responsibility for the loss of millions of dollars invested with another client.

By Associated Press
REGULATION AND LEGISLATION OCT 15, 2009
Schwab slapped with SEC warning; YieldPlus settlement may be on the horizon

The SEC's warning to the Charles Schwab Corp. that <a href= http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091015/FREE/910159992>it could face civil charges</a> over two fixed-income mutual funds may have a direct effect on current and looming legal actions from investors over losses suffered in the funds.

By Bruce Kelly
FINTECH OCT 15, 2009
Two new releases from ProTracker Software available

ProTracker Software Inc. has released an update to its Advantage <a href="//www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080415/REG/147477097/1102/INTechnologyNews03&quot;" target="&#8221;_blank&#8221;" rel="noopener noreferrer">customer relationship management</a> application. It also introduced Version 5 of its Compliance Manual product.

By Davis Janowski
RETIREMENT PLANNING OCT 14, 2009
Advisers staring at a new 'slew' of litigation from small-business clients

Financial advisers who have sold certain types of retirement and other benefit plans to small businesses might soon be facing a wave of lawsuits &#8212; unless Congress decides to take action soon.

By Bloomberg
REGULATION AND LEGISLATION OCT 14, 2009
Watchdog: Treasury wasn't prepared for AIG bonuses

The fierce debate over bonuses for bailed-out executives was revived on Capitol Hill Wednesday as a government watchdog explained how some executives nearly brought down the financial system &#8212; then pocketed millions.

By Bloomberg
OPINION OCT 13, 2009
The End of the Andrew Hall Saga

Shareholders Lose, Taxpayers Lose

By DSARCH
RETIREMENT PLANNING OCT 12, 2009
Roth IRA conversion confusion creates opportunity for advisers, Schwab study finds

The pending rule changes around Roth IRA conversions present a huge business opportunity for financial advisers to have deeper conversations with clients, according to a new survey by Charles Schwab &amp; Co. Inc.

By Jessica Toonkel Marquez
OPINION OCT 12, 2009
How helping the unemployed can help your practice

At a recent workshop, advisers told me they are finding that a surprisingly high percentage of their clients are unemployed. Advisers found this out during client reviews, and they said the news surprised them &#8212; clients had never called to let them know about their new circumstances.

By Maureen Wilke
OPINION OCT 11, 2009
Group aims to influence reform

The Committee for the Fiduciary Standard is an organization that every investor and financial professional should know about.

By Blaine F. Aikin