What is one glaring fact staring us in the face right now? The financial advisory market is in the biggest state of flux in decades. That has caused many advisors to leave the industry, change firms or become...
IT'S TOO EASY when focusing on what's happening today and tomorrow to overlook what may happen years from now. After all, especially in our business, who can predict tomorrow? But you don't need a crystal ball to...
The events of Tuesday, Sept. 11, beg the question: Why did this brutal attack on America take place? Generally speaking, Americans have difficulty comprehending the loss of family, friends and business associates by...
Twenty-five years has brought a number of significant changes to the financial services sector. Yesterday's equities market was quite different from today's. I can recall when the NYSE was closed on Wednesdays, just...
Last month, I attended the Association for Advanced Life Underwriting annual conference in Washington, D.C. This was not a meeting of typical life insurance salesmen, but a meeting of sophisticated financial planners...
When I sat down to write this column, the deadline for paying taxes was looming and a meeting with Felix Aisen, my CPA, was fast approaching. This time of year always reminds me how much faith I put in Felix and...
Total variable annuity assets now top the $1 trillion mark, and sales last year exceeded $120 billion. I got these eye-popping statistics from the National Association for Variable Annuities (NAVA) Marketing...
There's nothing like continuing education. Because I believe in perpetual learning, I frequently attend financial services industry conferences. And I'm always amazed at what I pick up inside the conference room as...
Where you find retail investment professionals is expanding. In years past, most brokers inhabited wirehouses, but today financial professionals could be with H&R Block, which plans to offer full-line financial...
While this month's issue collects your thoughts about industry employers, the SIA just released data on investors' opinions of you. The SIA Investor Survey, conducted by Yankelovich Partners, gauges investors'...
