Advisor news
Financial advisor career news from Willis Consulting
Fidelity Limits Advisor “Vacation Time” With New Mobile App
You might recall last February when Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services introduced the first app for iPhones and Android phones which allowed their financial advisors to remotely access client accounts and respond to client questions. This week, their tech team...
Moving With a Strong Transition Team
Moving to a new firm is not for everyone, but if you are thinking about it, or have decided to jump in and “do it” make sure you have all your “ducks” in order. Organization, account due diligence and compliance issues are the obvious first steps, but it does not end...
TD Ameritrade Focuses on Expanding Sales Force…Not Offices
The Schwab Franchise issue popped up at TD Ameritrade’s 2011 Elite Advisor Summit’s opening session Q&A portion two weeks ago in Miami Beach. It seems that an advisor asked Tom Bradley (president of TD Ameritrade) and Fred Tomczyk (CEO) about Schwab’s plans to...
Schwab Expands With Franchise Plan
It looks like Schwab is not wasting time in opening franchises with independent contractors. In fact, the San Francisco based broker is making five-year deals with dozens of financial advisors, and hopes to have between 5 and 10 opened by year’s end. According to...
BofA to Hire 500 Financial Solutions Advisors
With plans to double the number of their FSAs by year’s end, the total number of advisors in the year-old FSA program will number more than 1,000. This group of advisors represents the “Merrill Edge” - designed to combine the banking strength of BofA and investment...
Merrill’s Advisors Get Tips on How to Pursue Women Clientele
“Building your women clientele takes longer, but they are more loyal.” This is how Sallie Krawcheck, president of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s global wealth and investment management unit, views the differences between client genders. Her remarks were made as part...
Your Website Makes a First Impression
No longer do we rely solely on ourselves to create first impressions. In fact, our websites are becoming more and more influential in determining how our clients perceive us and how successful we are in growing our business. True for financial recruiters as well as...
Can Breakaway RIAs Have Tax Advantage Over Wirehouse Brokers?
In its newly released white paper, “Options for Independence Tax and Succession Considerations,” Fidelity Investments says that over a 10-year period, RIAs could pocket a much as $21 million more in after-tax income than if they had stayed at a wirehouse. The...
2012 – Big Year for Jumping Ship?
There was a lot of “buying” of financial advisors and wealth managers in 2008-09 by some of the industry’s biggest firms through retention packages, most in the form of forgivable loans over a period of time. [pullquote] time and changing economic circumstances will...
New Angle to Build Client Base?
Here’s a new twist to developing a pipeline of referrals. Organizing a workshop for potential clients is “old hat” and successful results are dependent on the advisor’s effectiveness in his “show and tell” presentation; how knowledgeable he is about the products he’s...
Broker-Dealers and RIAs to Focus on Growth
A Fidelity Investment’s recent survey reported that 75% of Broker-Dealers and RIAs were focused on hiring in the next 12 months, and they plan to boost their staff by an average of 30%. With a U.S. unemployment rate of 9%+, that’s welcome news in the financial...
600 MSSB Advisors Hop on Twitter
We knew it was coming. On May 2, Raymond James Financial and Commonwealth Financial announced they would soon begin allowing their financial advisors to interact with and engage in conversations with others on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and blogs. Instead of “static”...
Wirehouses Recruiting Independent Brokers
We’re seeing a “flip-flop” in the financial recruiting arena lately. Big brokerage firms are now knocking on the doors of “independent” brokers, and that marks a change for both parties. During the financial crisis, firms like BofA’s Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley...
Every Financial Advisor Should Have a Blog
Did you know that non-bloggers are fast becoming the minority? According to Hubspot’s latest study the number of companies that blog has grown from 48% in 2009 to 65% this year. And the ones that do blog have - 55% more visitors - 97% more inbound links - 434% more...
Tips for RIAs to Stay in Compliance
Everyone has been speculating as to what the new fiduciary requirements will be, but there has been very little out there as to what RIAs and other financial services professionals can do to ensure they will be in compliance when the new regulations are finalized by...
New Searchable Database of Disciplinary Actions Against Brokers
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has launched a free searchable database of disciplinary actions against brokers. According to Financial Advisor online magazine, users can search for actions by case number, document text and action date, individual name and...
FA Turnover at Wirehouses at Historic Low?
According to InvestmentNews Advisors on the Move database, the Big 4 wirehouses saw near historic lows in advisor turnover during the past 12 months ending March 31. Merrill Lynch hired the most net new advisors over the 12 month period (517) and MSSB shed the most...
Edward Jones Seeking Experienced Financial Advisors
With a history of hiring career changers and entry level trainees, Edward Jones wants to recruit at least 230 experienced advisors this year, at least one for each of their regions where they operate. Earlier this year, they added three new recruiters and streamlined...
Financial Advisors: Grow Your Business by Asking
Last week 409 independent financial advisors gathered in Chandler, Arizona to attend the Peak Advisor Alliance Excell Meeting. At one session, Ron Carson of Carson Wealth Management asked the attendees how many ask for referrals at every opportunity....
Silver Lining Behind Brokerage Shortage
Found a really “good read” to share in the 04/25/2011 edition of Financial Advisor by blogger Josh Brown, contributor and a vice president at Fusion Analytics advisory firm and the author of The Reformed Broker blog. The aging factor of the advisor population has been...