Considering the economy, the state of the stock market and the public's perception of Wall Street, the immediate outlook for the independent-brokerage business — like most financial services businesses — is anything but glowing.
The fantastic growth among independent broker-dealers came skidding to a halt last year, but the results were far from disastrous — with some firms taking advantage of recruiting opportunities despite the revenue declines.
Brokers who are considering going independent are finding a bright spot amid the gloom: The cost of going it alone is down sharply.
There is a crisis in defined contribution retirement plans. In addition to devastating market losses, employers are ceasing their matches.
The term "bailout" has taken on new meaning for financial advisers as they devise ways to free clients from underperforming variable annuities, but the path to freedom is paved with possible tax complications and worries about account churning.
With regulation of the financial planning industry all but a certainty, a coalition of industry groups is cobbling together a proposal to make the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. the rule setter and enforcer for the nation's hundreds of thousands of unregulated planners.
Banning short sales not only doesn't calm markets, it makes them choppier, a new study has found.
The idea to offer free financial planning to unemployed professionals came to Robert Fragasso when he was counseling a man who was on the verge of losing his house.
Thomas Ruggie, a Florida-based investment adviser, thinks that he has identified a new target for his investment management and planning services: people who win personal-injury-lawsuit settlements, and their lawyers.
Middle-class taxpayers likely will face a wide swath of tax increases in the years ahead, according to economists at The Brookings Institution.
<i>InvestmentNews</i> has entered into a partnership with Moss Adams LLP to continue the research and studies conducted and produced by Moss Adams since 1992 on independent financial advisory firms.
Running a successful family financial advisory business is much tougher than the smiling portraits posted on many firm's websites would lead a client or prospect to believe.
The initial public offering market appears to be awakening from its slumber.
The recent fantastic growth among independent broker-dealers came skidding to a halt last year, but the results were far from disastrous for many firms.
Only a few months into fiscal year 2009, 44 states reported this month that they face a combined total of $62.4 billion in budget gaps, according to a report from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Even when crafting permanent gifts, advisers can include clauses that allow clients to get out of the deal if the charity strays from its initial cause.
American International Group Inc. of New York has appointed Matthew E. Winter vice chairman, transition planning and administration, replacing Richard H. Booth, who retired.
The number of new-home sales in March was nearly unchanged from February at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 356,000, according to estimates released today by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Advisers need to work harder to include their clients’ heirs in estate plans because 92% of heirs change advisers once they receive an inheritance, according to one industry leader.
The effort is an attempt by the financial planning industry both to legitimize itself as a regulated profession and reverse the growing impetus of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc., which oversees securities brokers, to expand its domain to planners and advisers.
