Our interests may not always be the same as yours. Imagine telling your clients that. And then imagine saying 20 minutes later, But now that we're discussing your comprehensive planning needs, I'm acting in your best interests, because I've put on...

If you thought you had it bad calls unreturned, prospective clients canceling meetings pity the mutual fund wholesaler. First, many more are out of work than just a few years ago and, on average, they are earning less. Their jobs have also gotten...

Ric Edelman's firm puts up incredible numbers. Edelman Financial Services of Fairfax, Va., has $2.75 billion in assets under management and counsels 7,500 clients. Last year, the firm generated $17 million in gross revenue, making EFS one of the...

Jerry Brown, Terry Kelley and Mark Strynar have joined Morgan Stanley with $178 million assets under management. Brown and Strynar were formerly senior vice presidents at UBS. The team, located in Florida, produces $2.1 million in revenue. Marcus...

Anyone who has ever watched a relay race or a football game knows that a lot can go wrong during a handoff. The same is true when control of a business is being passed from one person to the next. Indeed, the death, disability or retirement of a...

Being a trustee entails risk of personal liability. Being one of a number of trustees can increase the risk. In the legendary Matter of Rothko,1 a fiduciary that failed to try to prevent his co-fiduciaries from breaching their duties was...

Mark Little, a San Antonio-based broker gave away 99 percent of his clients. And that, he says, is the best thing he has ever done to boost his income.

Recruiting competition between the top brokerage firms is fiercer than ever, and Morgan Stanley is currently wielding one of the most powerful deals on Wall Street. Known as the Rising Star program, it offers young, successful brokers 100 percent...

The biggest hurdle for advisors who want to swap their high-net-worth clients for ultra-high-net-worth clients is convincing the target customers that they are understood. This, of course, is not an easy task if for no other reason than because...

About a year-and-a-half ago, John Marshall surveyed his client roster and decided it was time to go after the really big bucks. The likeliest avenue, he figured, was gathering prospects through referrals from existing accounts. Marshall, an...