They've got a lot of competition these days from so-called alternatives like ETFs and other products, many of which have been quickly lapping up new assets in recent years. But mutual funds' all-out dominance of the vast U.S. investment universe...

For 25 years, Alan Gladstone picked individual stocks for clients. Then five years ago, Gladstone, a senior vice president and financial advisor for Morgan Stanley, began switching to exchange-traded funds. Today nearly all his client assets are...

If you are like most financial advisors, you probably don’t know a thing about private placement life insurance. But maybe you should. A growing number of ultra-wealthy investors are using it as a legal means to avoid paying income taxes on...

It’s earnings season, and with Lehman, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley kicking it off this week, many investors will be asking themselves: Is the financial crisis over? (Or, at least, is it winding down?) The smart money at the sovereign...

I'd hate to run into Michael Panzner at a cocktail party. Talk about bringing a person down. In his revised and updated book, Financial Armageddon: Protect Your Future From Economic Collapse (Kaplan Publishing), Panzner argues that America and the...

Now that the Baby Boomer generation is retiring in droves, fund companies are focusing on a thorny question: How can retirees obtain reliable income from their investments? Since September, half a dozen companies including Russell, DWS Scudder and...

Last month's column discussed why clients with college-bound children should not only permit themselves to borrow money to pay for education expenses, but should even be encouraged by you to do so. Since that time, dozens of education loan...

For years, regulators have considered altering the 12b-1 fees imposed on mutual funds. But despite hearings and public debate, no new rules have appeared. Now the SEC seems poised to issue a major proposal that would cap 12b-1 fees on C-shares and...

Registered Rep: What attracted you to Fusion? Philip Palaveev: First of all, the fantastic group of advisors Fusion currently has some of whom were my clients at Moss Adams many of whom have become friends. Second, the great partner and friend I...

April's column discussed charitable lead trusts, and why the vehicles might be an optimal solution for wealthy clients who wish to give more money to charity in the near-term and family in the long-term, and less to Uncle Sam forever. But CLTs...