Ladenburg Thalmann has acquired Investacorp, a B-D with close to 500 affiliated reps.
National Planning Holdings Inc. has begun a program to hire and manage an in-house licensed and trained assistant.
BS AG remained the world’s largest money manager in terms of assets under management, with $2.45 trillion, to lead the Pensions & Investments/Watson Wyatt Worldwide ranking of the world’s 500 largest money managers in 2006.
Dwindling assets and intense regulatory scrutiny continue to take their toll on mutual fund B shares, which at the current rate of attrition are likely to become nearly extinct inside five years.
Two new tax efficiency tools are available to help advisers in portfolio management, specifically with the complex decision making as-sociated with their clients' stock holdings.
With no permanent repeal of the estate tax in sight, advisers are appeasing worried clients by putting new twists on old estate-planning tools.
The Phoenix Cos. Inc. has formed an alliance with Jefferson National Life Insurance Co. in which Phoenix will use the Jefferson technology platform to offer no-load variable annuities to fee-based advisers at wirehouses and regional broker-dealers.
Early withdrawals from retirement accounts should be discouraged. Withdrawals reverse the retirement savings process, and early distributions are the most expensive type, as they are subject to both income tax and the 10% early withdrawal penalty.
There just aren't enough planners to go around, according to leaders of the financial planning profession. Speaking this month in New York, Nicholas Nicolette, president of the Denver-based Financial Planning Association, said some firms will need to double or triple in size in the near future.
With the third-quarter-earnings season in full swing, financial advisers and analysts are finding similarities between this technology boom and the previous one — and they can't help but wonder if another bust is on the horizon.
