FA Career BLOG
Financial Advisor Career NEWS from Willis
Merrill iPad App Wins “Thumbs Up” From Financial Advisors
Merrill Lynch Clear…..a new iPad application to help financial advisors win over more retirement clients has been under a pilot study for the past 8 months, and is winning favor by advisors involved in the pilot program. It’s a new approach that integrates sleek...
Avoid Getting Hacked!
“From losing a cell phone, having a laptop stolen to facing email scammers and hackers: Advisors face numerous threats to the security of sensitive client data.” Samantha Allen, reporting for OnWallStreet-mag posted an article on May 6 that every advisor and/or...
Advisors Using Social Media Need To Be Compliant
Advisors need to be compliant, effective and comfortable with their social media activities. Socialware and Hearsay Social, are two technology companies that provide software for ensuring that advisors and their employers remain within regulatory bounds. Their...
Women FAs Stuck In Limbo At 23%
[pullquote]a good way to recruit more female advisors might be to put more hair dryers in the firm's bathrooms[/pullquote]The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards' conference was held in New York on April 22, where the latest research about the gender gap in...
Wells Fargo Profits Surge – Will Acquisitions Be Next?
Profits at Wells Fargo’s Wealth, Brokerage and Retirement division surged in the first quarter, as the firm reported a 41% increase year-over-year, contributing to record overall profits for the quarter. OnWallStreet.com reported on April 11, that Wells Fargo, which...
Financial Advisors are “At Will” Employees and Can Be Fired
Despite whatever recruitment deal or retention fee a financial advisor gets, it does not constitute a contract of employment, and you CAN be fired. Common “career killers” are worth reviewing from time to time. Danny Sarch, president of Leitner Sarch Consultants,...
Difficult Road Ahead for Financial Advisor Trainees
"The path to success for a trainee has become substantially more difficult," acknowledged Bill Willis, President and CEO of Willis Consulting, Inc. in an interview with Ilana Polyak, reporting for OnWallSteetMag. The path to success for a financial advisor trainee has...
Raymond James Continues to Nab Wirehouse Financial Advisors
[pullquote] What we are seeing is the result of months and months of consistent recruiting [/pullquote]The Tampa Bay-based wealth management firm has successfully completed its eighth major financial advisor recruitment effort in the past three weeks, part of a...
Recruiting Wirehouse Financial Advisors
“Recruiting a wirehouse advisor can be well worth the effort for growth-minded RIA firms -- but it's not easy, it takes time and you should expect a lot of false starts.” That's the message from Neal Simon, founder and chief executive of Highline Wealth Management,...
Financial Advisor Recruiters Say Top Advisors More Selective in Looking to Move
Financial advisor recruiters are finding that top advisors are being more selective when considering a career move. It’s no longer all about the compensation. Instead, “equity and career growth” are the focus. “They want to be stretched and challenged, and they want...
Financial Advisors’ Clients Want Fee Disclosures Upfront
Financial advisors are failing to give clients the bottom-line fee disclosures they want.[pullquote]81% of clients said they were looking for an approximate calculation of fees based on their portfolio[/pullquote] According to a recent survey of 250 advisors and...
Raymond James Moves to Build Pipeline of New Financial Advisors
Raymond James & Associates recently introduced a new training program to turn its registered service associates into financial advisors. The company hopes to build a pipeline of new financial advisors to replace retiring veterans and to further diversify its...
Financial Advisor Compensation Packages Increase in 2013
[pullquote]Interesting times…[/pullquote] “2013 was a great year for the wealth management industry, and comp packages are more or less increasing across the board.” “That said, it won't surprise anyone to learn that the rich are still getting richer—meaning that the...
SEC Zeroes in on Financial Advisors, Broker-Dealers
“The agency will ‘intensify’ its focus on the role of financial advisors in 2014,” agency chairwoman Mary Jo White emphasized in a speech Friday morning, February 21 .[pullquote]The agency will ‘intensify’ its focus on the role of financial advisors in...
More Scrutiny Allowed by FINRA
FINRA's board of governors approved a rule proposal on Thursday, February 14, that would impose new limits on financial advisors' ability to remove information about customer disputes from BrokerCheck, the regulator's online portal where investors can find information...
Financial Advisor Shortage — Firms Need to Change Hiring Tactics
“Advisory firms are going to have to rethink their hiring philosophies to meet the growing demand for investment advice,” according to industry representatives and academics. Deena Katz, an associate professor of financial planning at Texas Tech University, argued...
2014 Financial Advisor Recruiter Roundtable Forecast:
“Cut Your Best Deal Now” OnWallStreet.com’s annual Recruiter Roundtable met in January with discussions on future issues within the industry and the prognosis for financial advisor recruiting in the months to come. Bill Willis, President and CEO of Willis-Consulting,...
MyRA–a Breakthrough?
If it would cause millions of low-income Americans to save for retirement who are not currently doing so, then, it just might be a “breakthrough”. [pullquote]I think it’s going to cause a lot of people to actually get started saving[/pullquote]Sheryl Garrett, head of...
MyRIA? Or MyIR?…OH!…MyRA
From praise to scorn was the reaction on Wall Street to President Obama’s announcement in his State of the Union address of the new MyRA retirement plan for low- to middle-income Americans. But one thing is for sure, many big questions remain to be answered. “The very...
Financial Advisor Jobs Projected to Grow 32% by 2020
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has indicated that financial advising jobs are projected to grow 32% between 2010 and 2020. This will result in the addition of 64,000-plus jobs during that time frame. Good news to be sure. A driving factor behind this growth in jobs is...
