Registered investment advisers are the fastest-growing distribution channel for mutual-fund-based small-business 401(k)s. Starting from a small base, they are adding assets at the rate of about 14% a year, according to Boston-based Financial Research Corp.
Some brokerage firms are miffed about higher registration fees that Florida implemented this month, and blame the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association for not doing enough to stop the increases.
Two legal decisions this month related to equity index annuities make clear that plaintiffs must attack specific annuity provisions or standardized marketing materials in order to show the “commonality” needed for class action certification.
In a case that married dry-as-dust estate-planning issues with “Dallas”-like squabbling among wealthy family members, a Texas court has decided that King Ranch heir B.K. Johnson had all his faculties when he drew up his last will and that his widow and third wife didn’t manipulate him into excluding his children.
A proposal to provide tougher qualification standards for investing in hedge funds and other alternative investments has proved to be so controversial that the Securities and Exchange Commission may have to alter the plan or scrap it altogether.
After a long, hard slog, H&R Block Financial Advisors Inc. has found its way to profitability, and it expects to stay there, but its parent company’s long-standing goal of turning millions of tax clients into brokerage clients remains elusive.
PHILADELPHIA — An exchange traded fund that invests in municipal bonds is expected finally to become a reality — a prospect that excites some financial advisers.
NEW YORK — The rich are different, and so are their insurance needs, but many wealthy people may be leaving themselves unprotected, according to personal-lines-property-casualty-insurance specialists.
SAN FRANCISCO — A small company is betting that it can turn defined benefit plans into a mainstream product for financial advisers to sell.
IRVINE, Calif. — An SEC proposal to change how broker-dealers can invest customer reserve funds has come under attack from a variety of industry interests.
