Financial planners applauded last week’s dramatic one-half-percentage-point cut in the federal funds rate by the Federal Reserve Board, saying the move provides an opportunity to calm nervous investors and help clear up their debt problems.
Some financial advisers are relying on an old strategy called a grantor-retained annuity trust to help rich clients who want to pass their assets on to their children free of estate tax.
Broker-dealers will need to beef up compliance and oversight of variable annuity sales by their representatives at the start of next year.
With the deadline for ending fee-based brokerage accounts looming, big brokerage firms are scrambling to move their customers into advisory accounts.
Despite initial resistance, a few independent-broker-dealer firms have begun to allow their financial advisers to serve as fiduciaries, following pressure from the advisers themselves.
Financial advisers are questioning the decision of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. to keep them in the dark after hackers gained access to their clients’ Social Security numbers, account numbers, phone numbers and e-mail addresses.
The insurance industry wants Congress to do something about the Byzantine system of state-by-state agent licensing and oversight.
The SEC has voted to give some non-discretionary advisory accounts limited relief from principal trading restrictions.
Chief executive Eric Schwartz is handing the title of president to chief operations officer Amy Webber.
NAPFA has teamed up with the Hueler to launch a platform that allows fee-only planners to purchase institutionally priced annuities for their clients.
The registered investment adviser will pay $32.5 million to settle market-timing charges with the SEC.
Assets for 529 college savings plans managed by Fidelity Investments grew nearly 60% for the past year to $13.5 billion.
Fidelity Registered Investment Advisor Group today became Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services.
Marsh & McLennan Cos. stock slipped after Brian M. Storms stepped down as CEO of Marsh Inc. on Friday.
Insurance regulators are joining the attack on investment fraud that targets older Americans.
The municipal bond market is recovering after a period of extreme turmoil last month during which buyers disappeared and trading froze up. Despite a strong rally since then, observers say, some longer-term municipal bonds still offer yields almost equal to taxable paper — an extremely rare event — and remain attractive buys.
Compensation for financial advisers continues to skyrocket, and the profession will become even more lucrative, according to a study released last week.
The escalating battle between A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. and Stifel Financial Corp. is now in the courts.
With the cost of credit rising, companies struggling to raise cash in either the debt or equity markets have been increasingly looking for alternative financing through private investments in public equity, also known as PIPEs, turbocharging an already booming market.
Investors and financial advisers should take the Federal Reserve Board’s monetary policy into account when making portfolio allocation decisions, according to a new academic study.
