by
Dorothy Hinchcliff
Securities America, a Nebraska-based broker-dealer with 1,900
independent financial advisors, has named its president, Jim Nagengast,
as chief executive officer.
An arbitration panel ordered two units of Raymond James Financial Inc.
(RJF) to buy back $2.5 million in auction rate securities from an
investor.
Two financial advisors won $2 million in arbitration from a
retirement-plan advisory firm they left Merrill Lynch to join in 2008,
only to be let go the following year.
FINRA is taking another crack at
the touchy question of how much financial information investors and
brokerages have to exchange when a dispute goes into arbitration.
by
Jeff Schlegel
TD Ameritrade Institutional announced Wednesday that 212 breakaway
brokers have joined its network during the first three quarters of
its fiscal year 2010.
Bank of America's wealth management unit, which includes Merrill
Lynch, generated more fees and brokerage income in the
second quarter than it has since the first quarter of 2009.
Broker-dealers and financial advisors say they're satisfied for the most
part with the overhaul bill passed by the Senate and are now gearing up
to help shape the changes.
A securities arbitration panel ordered J.P...
The allure of independence is fading for some financial advisors who
strayed from big brokerage firms to strike out on their own.
Finra's plans to expand broker background information on its BrokerCheck service, but it's not entirely clear what brokers can and can't
challenge
by
Ray Fazzi
LPL Financial Corporation has reached an agreement to buy National
Retirement Partners Inc. (NRP), a national network of more than 150
advisor member firms, the companies announced today.
An across-the-board fiduciary standard included in the financial overhaul legislation would be
more of an annoyance than anything else to wirehouse brokers, lawyers say.
Traditional e-brokers aren't likely to lose their most-prized
customers--active traders--to Bank of America Corp.'s new Merrill
Lynch online brokerage.
The lingering downturn is slimming the ranks of smaller and less sound regional and independent broker-dealers.
by
Dorothy Hinchcliff
It's not just clients who don't understand what people who hold
themselves out as financial advisors are obligated to do for them. A new
survey shows that many advisors are confused, too.
Elements of the sweeping financial reform will impact financial advisors by affecting the terms of their relationships
with clients, their business practices and the products they offer.
Independent RIAs like Constellation Wealth Advisors saw a surge in assets from 2007 to the end of last year, while the five biggest brokerages saw a double-digit collective decline.
Employing part-time financial advisors often requires a robust
compliance program-at a cost that has some companies rethinking their
business strategies.
Moving
on from
a financially troubled brokerage can be a relief compared to ongoing
worries
about a firm's cash flow crisis.
