Fiduciary Rules

Risk. It’s a tiny word for a critical investment concept, one that necessarily merits ample discussion by advisors with their clients. Unfortunately, evidence suggests this may not be happening evenly across the advisory industry.

Whether you’re transitioning from another firm or starting from scratch, setting up your own independent registered investment advisor (RIA) firm is a tremendous opportunity that can provide higher earning potential, freedom, flexibility, and the opportunity to build a legacy.

America’s financial industry has long had trust issues. Never mind the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-08; mistrust of the markets dates back to at least 1929, if not the Dutch East India collapse of 1769. But this history has an upside: Financial institutions have a lot of experience creating systems to build, maintain and restore trust — and have learned lessons that can be applied across the economy.

The ERISA Advisory Council is conducting hearings on Qualified Default Investment Alternatives (QDIAs), seeking recommendations for improvements. The big challenge is making better decisions for people who do not want to engage.

Here’s a quote attributed to P. J. O’Rourke, an American author, journalist and political satirist: “There is a simple rule here, a rule of legislation, a rule of business, a rule of life: beyond a certain point, complexity is fraud.”

The “country” in this article is the wild and woolly market of small retirement savings plans (SRSPs) that have less than 100 participants. The “old men” are baby boomers who cannot afford to lose their lifetime savings. And the villain is the next stock market crash.

This article examines both breaches at AT&T, discusses how the data can be used to perpetrate detailed deep fakes, and shares how you can advise your clients and staff to protect your clients’ investments.

Conflicts are everywhere in financial planning. They exist in all fee models, whether they be commissions, assets under management, fixed fee, or hourly. Any time money changes hands there are conflicts of interests.

AI and automation will revolutionize the financial advisory industry. These technologies enhance efficiency, improve client communication, and enable data-driven decision-making. By 2035, AI will be integral to most advisory firms.

Last week, the Supreme Court overturned a decades-old legal doctrine that gave federal regulators the power to interpret unclear laws. This touched off a lot of wild rhetoric about the end of the administrative state.

The years-long parade of freedom-seeking advisors out of the wirehouses continues unabated. Meanwhile, consolidation of RIA firms, driven by private equity’s hot money, has similar momentum. Are these trends on a collision course?

Understanding how to act ethically and appropriately as an advisor is apparently no easy task.

Yes, differentiation is hard, which is why developing a niche target market has become so popular recently. It can dramatically reduce the number of competitors. But even advisors who focus on a niche have competition.

A planner using a fee-offset model sets an annual fixed fee for their services. Then any commissions earned from the sale of products, usually insurance products, are credited back to the client, offsetting and reducing the annual fee by the amount of the commission.

Wall Street’s half-trillion-dollar business cloning quant trades has some surprising new customers: the very firms whose strategies it mimics.

Celebrity fund manager and activist investor Bill Ackman just sold 10% of his investment management company in a deal that valued Pershing Square at $10.5 billion. An initial public offering could come as soon as next year, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

In this article, I provide a basic framework for understanding and developing a lifelong plan for a person with disabilities. I’ll introduce matters as they relate to establishing a well thought out and comprehensive plan that ties together life, public benefit, and resource planning as well as financial and legal planning.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. is on the hunt to buy a private credit firm to augment its $3.6 trillion asset management arm, as the biggest US bank makes more inroads into Wall Street’s buzziest sector.

The GAO report was three years in the making. At $4 trillion and growing, target date funds are very important. The GAO report has the potential to improve the industry.

In this article, I summarize some of the most common mistakes I come across when reviewing client agreements and how such mistakes can cost an advisor.

It’s not just about the balances in the accounts; it’s about helping our clients have a healthy relationship with money.

The sorry state of Britain's equity markets has been well-documented. Across all UK indexes there have been just three initial public offerings so far this year after over 100 de-listings in 2023. The noise that this is only the beginning is getting louder.

If building generational wealth were easy, everyone would do it. In truth, it takes focus, discipline, and proper guidance each step along the way. Perhaps most importantly, your mindset will determine your fate.

In the competitive landscape of the investment advisory industry, retaining top talent is essential for the long-term success and growth of investment advisory firms. To incentivize and reward key employees, investment advisors often turn to equity compensation tools.

How to overcome obstacles when your firm is growing too fast and bringing in too much business?

This is the story of the implications of fiduciary best interest dying at the SEC.

I offer a collection of observations and beliefs based on my 48 years of experience in the financial services business, which includes stints as either president or CEO of five different TAMPs and a consulting firm.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said artificial intelligence may be the biggest issue his bank is grappling with, likened its potential impact to that of the steam engine and said the technology could “augment virtually every job.”

Two applications, TikTok and Temu, are subjects of increasing concern over privacy practices.

I will explain what AI is and how it’s impacting the financial services industry; some regulatory and legal concerns with respect to the use of AI; and how RIAs can take their first steps to utilizing AI in their practice responsibly.

More advisors and firms are moving to fee-centric affiliation models, dropping their FINRA registrations and focusing on providing investment advice for a fee. What is the driver behind this trend?

The SEC's dysfunctional process doesn’t benefit or protect clients.

Beginning this year, the SECURE Act 2.0 allows owners of 529 plans to convert unused 529 funds to the beneficiary’s Roth IRA.

Here’s how your clients’ birthdays trigger marketing moments that matter.

Lead-generation services present a paradox for the advisory profession: Many advisors have no luck with those services, but others use them to cost-effectively generate revenue. My research untangled that paradox.

To successfully navigate the minefield of acquisitions and consolidations, advisory clients should consider the cultural integration of an acquired firm and pay meticulous attention to the motives of the acquiring organization.

I'm going to predict the future. Not the coming year. Not the markets. But the trends that will emerge in 2024 and will shape the future, which advisory firms can prepare for now so that the strong, gusty winds of change will howl at their backs instead of in their faces.