Investment Advisor January 2009

First Responder

By James J. Green, AdvisorOne

The veteran advisor from New York was clearly distraught. It was also clear that he wasn't often distraught when it came to matters financial. He...

More Pain, Then Pleasure (Maybe)

By Kara P. Stapleton

Hindsight may always be 20/20, but in these market and economic times, the cognoscenti seem to agree that even perfect vision and an understanding of...

Something for Everyone

By Robert F. Keane

Many advisors like to say they've spent a lifetime in the business, but for Robert Lutts it's true. He's spent the last 25 of his...

Asset Allocation

By Kara P. Stapleton

"The key to 2009 is whether an Obama stimulus package can ignite consumer rebound," says Kelly, the chief market strategist for JPMorgan Funds, adding that...

More Regulation Post-Madoff?

By Jeff Joseph

The only thing they are certain of is that his alleged Ponzi scheme--estimated at $50 billion--will prompt fresh calls for regulators to beef up enforcement...

Focus on Financials

By Beth Piskora

No doubt about it: 2008 was a bad year for financial services stocks. The S&P 500 financial services index registered a 60% downturn through December...

What to Do Now?

By James J. Green, AdvisorOne

When you're in the middle of a crisis, by definition it's difficult to plan ahead to avoid the next crisis, but that's exactly what the...

Schwab Reorganizes; Fidelity Hires; Pershing Provides

By James J. Green, AdvisorOne

The three major custodians of RIA assets announced big executive changes and a new practice management program in just over a month. First, the largest RIA...

Focus Expands

By James J. Green, AdvisorOne

Focus Financial Partners, the buyer of advisory firms led by CEO Rudy Adolf, has entered the business of providing consulting help to brokers looking to...

Group Think

By Kara P. Stapleton

? Three of the largest organizations of financial planners--the CFP Board, the FPA, and NAPFA--announced that they are holding a series of exploratory meetings to...

Changes

By Kara P. Stapleton

? The FPA named Tom Potts as president-elect for 2009. In addition, six new members were elected to the FPA's board--Michael Branham, Diana DeCharles, Paula...

Upgrades

By Kara P. Stapleton

Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services said December 9 that 25 of its affiliated RIAs are using its WealthCentral platform, the Web-based, integrated wealth management platform that...

Green Giving

By Kara P. Stapleton

"We at Alger have been expanding our charitable activities in both participation and donations for about seven years now, trying to focus on giving back...

What to Do with the Family Business

By Lewis Schiff

Creating The right recipe for a successful transfer of a family business to a child, requires several special ingredients. The child needs to be well...

Green Investing in Trying Times

By Robert F. Keane

I'm sure that every generation of Americans has faced a crisis that gave them good reason to embrace Thomas Paine's revolutionary quotation of 1776. In...

The Recession Blues

By Mark Tibergien

Recessions give me depressions. Those who run financial services firms know what I mean. We feel high anxiety for our employees, as we decide who...

Compassion Fatigue

By Bob Clark, AdvisorOne, Bob Clark, AdvisorOne

I don't watch much TV these days, but one of my favorite shows is "Scrubs," perhaps partly because of its hospital setting, in my opinion,...

Watch Out. Reform Is on the Way

By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne

As the New Year unfolds, one thing is certain: financial services regulatory reform will be hotly debated in the 111th Congress, and perhaps some reforms...

Understanding Overspending

By Olivia Mellan

America is in many ways a young nation. Born and raised in a pioneer mentality of endless expansion, we have little experience with the other...

First Aid Kit

By Angie Herbers

When I started my consulting firm seven years ago, I went through hundreds of different scenarios of what could happen to advisory firms in the...

Obama's Retirement Agenda

By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne

Since the time is drawing nigh that the Obama Administration will be officially christened, it's important to refresh our memories about how the new Administration...

Passing It Along

By Kara P. Stapleton

Despite the market maelstrom that has slashed the value of portfolios left and right, there is still plenty of wealth that is on the brink...

Retirement Planning News & Products

By Kara P. Stapleton

A recent analysis by Hewitt Associates of 2.7 million U.S. workers found that the average 401(k) plan balance has dropped 14% in 2008 to $68,000,...

Fixing Fiduciary Failings

By Elizabeth D. Festa

The Retirement Advisor Profile The advisor: Blaine Aiken The firm: fi360 The Web site: www.fi360.com The approach: Promoting the fiduciary standard worldwide, and educating companies and individuals as to...

New Tax Lot Accounting

By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne

Getting on top of the tax lot requirements put forth by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which was rolled into the $700 billion bailout legislation,...

B/D Briefings News & Products

By Kara P. Stapleton

On December 1, 2008, Securian Financial Group's acquisition of Capital Financial Group, Inc. and its broker/dealer affiliate, H. Beck, Inc., closed. The acquisition, announced in...

Extra Credit

By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne

The Big Three--Ford, GM, and Chrysler--had not yet even taken their corporate jets to Washington to beg Congress for a bailout when a bit of...

In Troubled Times, Give 'Em Hope

By James J. Green, AdvisorOne

I have been in your shoes. Everyone is telling you to be positive, to take the initiative and call your clients--but that's the last thing...

Marketing in a Downturn

By Joni Youngwirth

If you are retaining 100% of your clients these days, you have a compelling story to tell. Consider that The Wall Street Journal reported on...

Now Is a Good Time to

By Joni Youngwirth

These are difficult times for clients and advisors alike, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be taking some specific practice management actions in response. Your Staff....

Make a Marketing Plan

By Joni Youngwirth

New Year, Same Issues?

By Kara P. Stapleton

It's no secret that the securities and investments industry in 2009 will be shaped by the ramifications of 2008's events. According to a new series...

Creditworthy

By Marlene Y. Satter, AdvisorOne

Peter Seneca, a partner at Securitas Global Risk Solutions LLC in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, says that credit insurance, in addition to protecting the receivables of a...