Trader Talk

The COVID-19 relief package that Congress agreed to last month provides many useful tax breaks, but accountants are also wondering about the applicability of some of the breaks, such as claiming restaurant meals as business deductions. Evan Morgan, director of tax services at Top 100 Firm Kaufman Rossin, is advising his small-business clients to take

The Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division issued a warning Thursday about a new wave of COVID-19 scams tied to the latest round of stimulus payments, especially targeting taxpayers in the District of Columbia. The warning comes amid heightened tension in Washington after a riot last week at the Capitol that left five people dead

Clients subject to required minimum distributions from retirement accounts were allowed to skip them last year, but RMDs resume in 2021. So, what strategies are on the table? Going Steady“We recommend using RMDs as a monthly supplement for Social Security,” says Jessica Hovis Smith, president of Longview Financial Advisors in Huntsville, Alabama. Account owners subject

Three days after he was arrested by police officers restoring control in the wake of the U.S. Capitol riot, a veteran financial professional killed himself, according to authorities. Christopher S. Georgia — who had been a registered representative of four wealth managers and a regional investment executive for a trust company over his 25-year career

Gary Gensler’s expected nomination to lead the SEC is seen ushering in an era of greater federal oversight of the $1 trillion cryptocurrency market. Gensler, who most recently taught about cryptocurrencies and their underlying technologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, previously chaired the CFTC and was a partner at Goldman Sachs. He is known

Wells Fargo is in talks to sell its asset management business to a private equity consortium led by GTCR and Reverence Capital Partners, according to a person familiar with the matter, as CEO Charlie Scharf revamps the long-beleaguered bank. The exact price under discussion couldn’t immediately be learned and the talks could still end without

President-elect Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan is designed to both pump money into the economy and contain the coronavirus pandemic. The plan includes a wave of new spending, including more direct payments to households, an expansion of jobless benefits, more money for state and local governments and an expansion of vaccinations and virus-testing programs.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said his firm will consider eliminating its political action committee after last week’s attack at the U.S. Capitol. The incoming administration must work to “bring people together,” Fink said in an interview Thursday, after BlackRock reported fourth-quarter results. Fink joins a chorus of corporate voices reconsidering their roles in the political

The tale of Gary Gensler’s transformation has always been remarkable. He went from being one of the youngest partners in the history of Goldman Sachs to becoming a favorite of progressive Democrats as a financial regulator during the Obama administration. Now, it’s about to add another chapter and Wall Street is very worried. President-elect Joe

RBC recruiting is barrelling into the new year. The regional BD picked up two UBS teams that managed a combined $900 million in client assets, furthering its recruiting streak from 2020. The advisors joined RBC in Lincoln, Nebraska. “RBC’s local leadership and strong presence in Lincoln, combined with the firm’s advisor-friendly culture, made this the

Facing a prolonged antitrust fight with the U.S. Justice Department, Visa walked away from a proposed $5.3 billion acquisition of Plaid. The DoJ sued to block the deal in November, accusing Visa of trying to buy the fintech firm to eliminate an emerging threat to its online debit business. Visa has said the government failed

Three partners in a major enterprise sold the firm to their longtime independent broker-dealer, Cetera Financial Group. John Brackett, Eric Huck and Anthony Tarantino formed Concord, Calif.-based BAR Financial in 2003 out of the merger of Brackett’s father-in-law’s firm and a former IBD named T.H.E. Financial Group. After growing to nearly 300 advisors and $4

People pass a sign for JPMorgan Chase at it’s headquarters in Manhattan, New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images Earnings season is upon us, but traders will be far less interested in fourth quarter results than in first quarter and second quarter guidance. The problem is it’s not clear that CEOs will cooperate. Banks

Nearly 30 years after two financial advisors started their practice with a couple of telephones and Rolodexes, they sold it to one of the largest private equity-backed RIA acquirers. Julianne Andrews and Cathy Miller of Atlanta Financial Associates have “not a few but many clients who were with us” when they launched in 1992, Andrews

In the span of a year and a half, planning for clients with special needs turned from part of financial advisor Matthew Ricks’ business and FPA pro bono work to the focus of his newly independent practice. Ricks left Ameriprise’s franchise channel and dropped his FINRA registration to launch fee-only Haystack Financial Planning with an

A slew of wealth management and asset management firms are pausing political donations in the wake of the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump supporters seeking to overturn the results of the election. The policy changes could cut off some politicians from significant campaign funds and show how firms are responding to last

With in-person meetings, events and activities still mostly on hold, digital channels are more important than ever for financial advisors to find new clients. Although 2020 forced many advisors to finally embrace digital marketing, they could still be doing better. Half of clients don’t read or even open the majority of emails from their financial

Wealth management could use a greater injection of emotional intelligence in its system. Industry leaders who lack emotional intelligence (also known as emotional quotient or EQ) wreak havoc on the workplace by exuding dominance over team members. By focusing on financial figures with a production-line mentality, they suppress innovation in exchange for control. In turn,

A Democratic sweep of both houses of the U.S. Congress stoked a record flood of cash into renewable-energy ETFs this week. The $6.2 billion iShares Global Clean Energy ETF (ICLN) lured a record $691 million of inflows so far this week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Meanwhile, the $4.6 billion Invesco Solar ETF (TAN)

A legendary dealmaker’s family office is changing hands for the second time in four years, under a deal with nearly as many wrinkles as his famed leveraged buyouts. Whitnell & Co. started as the family office of late former Beatrice Companies Chairman Donald P. Kelly before expanding to other high-net-worth and ultrahigh-net-worth clients, trusts, foundations

Janney Montgomery Scott’s aggressive recruiting efforts during the pandemic landed the company 43 new advisors by year-end 2020. While many companies shut their doors and sent their employees home to work when the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S., Janney determined early on to keep its offices open. To do so, it has put in place

After the wild ride 2020 took us on, it’s only natural that clients want to know what to expect from the stock market in 2021. When people ask how I think stocks and bonds will perform next year, I answer that if I could predict future market performance, I’d be richer than Jeff Bezos. Since

Michael Nagle/Bloomberg Wirehouses have largely gotten the message: due to competitive pressures there’s little latitude to keep chipping away at their grids. Advisor recruiting is becoming more of a frenetic struggle, not less. In addition to the already established players, there are now a host of boutique firms that are poaching $2 million-plus wirehouse teams.

US President-Elect Joe Biden delivers remarks before the holiday at The Queen in Wilmington, Delaware on December 22, 2020. Alex Edelman | AFP | Getty Images Stocks and taxes: what’s going to happen?  The Democrats’ control of Congress has shone a new spotlight on Biden’s tax proposals, particularly those that would affect stocks and bonds.  While

While the asset management industry has been watching and waiting for a mutual fund to become an ETF for the first time, it turns out history was being made with a conversion of another kind. A tiny U.S. hedge fund has just become the first to convert into an ETF. The actively managed Upholdings Compound

I have friends who are old enough to remember not only Oldsmobile cars, but also their final big marketing tagline — the one that killed the brand, according to some experts: “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” The idea behind the campaign was that Oldsmobile had reinvented itself, exchanging a stodgy, “Father Knows Best” image

The private equity investors fueling record consolidation in wealth management are seeking out firms at the industry’s intersection with related professional services. In separate deals announced on consecutive days this week, PE-backed buyers respectively purchased Truist Financial’s $10-billion 401(k) plan advisory business and a wealth management and tax consulting practice with $3.29 billion in assets

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE Despite the chaos at the Capitol, the S&P 500 closed Wednesday at a new high, which baffled some observers. “I think most feel this [the Washington protests] is more of a one-off situation, that this as an isolated event as opposed to some

The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department released guidance Wednesday on claiming deductions for expenses associated with Paycheck Protection Program loans that have been forgiven. The guidance in Revenue Ruling 2021-02 also reverses previous guidance issued last year by the IRS and the Treasury when Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin fiercely opposed the ability to

Raymond James’ independent broker-dealer finished off 2020 by completing its largest recruiting move of the year in terms of total client assets. A quartet of Franklin, Tennessee-based advisors with Campbell Johnson McGiboney Wealth Advisors dropped Morgan Stanley to affiliate with Raymond James, the firm announced Jan. 4. The team managed $1.1 billion in total client