Initial reactions to the proposed changes to the ethical standards for certified financial planners have been favorable, but the other shoe could drop this week.
BOSTON — Independent advisers are used by 22% of millionaire households, and those advisers on average hold 56% of the millionaires’ investible assets — the largest share among financial service providers, according to a survey released last Monday by Fidelity Investments.
NEW YORK — Clean energy is increasingly gaining the attention of institutional investors. Last Monday, dozens of top investors managing a total of $4 trillion in assets asked Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the White House to approve stronger climate control policies.
NEW YORK — National Financial Partners Corp. will continue to pour money into acquisitions this year. At a recent conference for analysts and investors, company officials disclosed that they have earmarked $20 million to spend on acquisitions this year, a $5 million increase over 2006’s allocation.
Worried about giving clients a fair deal and keeping regulators at bay, some brokerage firms are tamping down the commissions on variable annuities that registered representatives and financial advisers sell.
Stock market volatility and worries that more bad news from the housing sector could threaten the U.S. economy’s prospects for a soft landing are likely to make 2007 “a dynamite year” for money fund inflows, a well-known money fund expert said last week.
IRVINE, Calif. — The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed that firms beef up their disclosure of cash sweep policies. The proposal, part of a little-noticed package of rules floated by the SEC this month, would require broker-dealers to provide a quarterly notice to customers telling them that they can opt out of a default sweep option and choose another vehicle for their cash.
One of the most pressing issues in the investment industry today is retirement plan fees and expenses. A lot of questions have been raised about them recently, all of which can be answered simply à la college basketball commentator Dick Vitale: “It’s about fiduciary responsibility, baby!”
This is the time of the year that most individual retirement account contributions are being made, but they may or may not be deductible. If you are active in a company plan, and your income exceeds certain amounts, then you cannot deduct your IRA contribution. If you are not an active participant, then you can deduct your IRA contribution regardless of your income.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is getting close to bringing a first-of-its-kind privacy case against a broker-dealer for using client data in the account transfer process, and industry attorneys said that the SEC is investigating similar cases against as many as a dozen other firms.
