Trader Talk

Credit Suisse Securities will pay $9 million to settle claims that it violated multiple laws and rules related to customer protection, conflict of interest disclosures and preservation of client records. FINRA announced the sanctions Thursday, stating that Credit Suisse violated the SEC Customer Protection Rule by failing to maintain control of billions of dollars in

Recently released research from Morningstar suggests that those who begin retirement today may want to consider withdrawal rates as low as 3.3% — lower than the commonly quoted, but flawed, 4% rate. This sounds like bad news for retirees, but focusing on any withdrawal rate can be misleading. In reality, retirees spend dollars, not percentages.

Moore’s Law, proposed in 1965 by Intel co-founder Gordon E. Moore, states that the speed, capabilities and processing power of computers exponentially increase every couple of years, while the cost of those computers is halved at roughly the same rate. In theory, this would make the possibility for increased computing power limitless. But while manufacturers

The “freakish” organic growth of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in 2021 reached a level so high that the firm just can’t maintain it into the future, CEO James Gorman said. The net new assets flowing into the wirehouse jumped 11% in 2021 to a record $437.8 billion, an amount prompting Gorman to point out in

An RIA and turnkey asset management platform backed by some of the biggest names in wealth management is inviting the public to invest alongside them. Dynasty Financial Partners filed a Form S-1 with the SEC on Jan. 19 seeking to raise $100 million in an initial public offering for the St. Petersburg, Florida-based firm spanning

Amid the millions of new retail investors during the pandemic and concerns about Americans’ low financial literacy, FINRA plans to issue a regulatory notice about cryptocurrency. The guidance to more than 3,400 firms and 617,000 registered representatives overseen by FINRA will cover “the rules around the sale of crypto assets by or through our member

Financial firms need to take more cues from Silicon Valley, according to Charles Schwab Corp. Chief Executive Officer Walt Bettinger. Consumers want their banks and brokerages to offer technology with the same level of personalization they get from ride-hailing and food-delivery apps, Bettinger said in a wide-ranging interview after Schwab reported fourth-quarter results this week.

Last year at Invesco we operated in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic with much uncertainty, and many questions about how we would move forward and when we would resume our old routines. Now in 2022, with the pandemic still with us, we’ve realized that we need to, as a 2021 McKinsey study put it,

At least 1,000 victims. More than $115 million stolen. A deception that persisted for a decade to support a life of jet-setting, champagne popping and $10,000 suits. Those staggering figures summarize the rise and eventual fall of a former New York advisor and convicted scam artist known as “King Perry.” On Friday, 41-year-old Perry Santillo

Wells Fargo ended 2021 with fewer advisors in the room, more cash in its coffers and a whole lot of confidence heading into the new year. The bank’s Wealth and Investment Management unit lost a total of 1,146 registered representatives from either Wells Fargo Advisors or its Private Bank over the past 12 months, according

The favorite strategy of long-term investors and their financial advisors is about to get more complicated. Exchange-traded funds, with lower costs and built-in ties to benchmarks like the S&P 500 or themes like technology, are the go-to option for independent advisors helping clients, particularly younger ones, plan for major expenses like college, home-buying and retirement.

There’s a whiff of 1968 in the air. China’s “lying flat” movement has more than a passing echo of the U.S. counterculture of the 1960s and has found resonance around the world. It isn’t only the young and disaffected who are choosing to drop out. Two years into a global pandemic, the number of Americans

One of the biggest trends in asset management masks a secret. Passive investing has exploded in popularity over the past decade thanks to index funds, the holdings of which mimic benchmarks like the S&P 500 or specific themes like growth stocks. Unlike traditional mutual funds, regular index funds don’t involve a manager trading individual stocks

As investors begin 2022, an old adage comes to mind: “Everything in moderation.” This phrase appropriately describes the current environment — a world of moderating gross domestic product (GDP) growth, moderating fiscal policy, moderating central bank support and moderating equity returns. Candice Tse With everything seemingly in moderation, it’s important to not lose sight of

The trillions of dollars in assets moving into model portfolios should come with a note of caution about ETF costs, returns and how they relate to conflicts of interest, a new study suggests. Asset managers working with financial advisors in a “dual role” through their funds and model investment portfolios recommend affiliated ETFs more often

Financial literacy in the United States is low. And things don’t look to be getting better anytime soon. Because of that, financial advisors play a crucial role in ensuring that the nation’s most vulnerable communities are protected against those who wish to take advantage of that lack of understanding, and shielded from making bad decisions

The Foundation for Financial Planning opened its 2023 grant request application and named its 2022 award recipients. Bernstein Private Wealth Management is launching a podcast that will include conversations between the company’s executives and celebrities about financial topics and investment strategies. Any California employer that has more than 100 employees and doesn’t offer a private

Lois is an incapacitated senior suffering from a traumatic brain injury. Her conservator, who was overseeing money reserved for her long-term care and support, opened an account with a registered investment advisor. The money would need to be managed conservatively, since it was intended to care for Lois over the remainder of her life. Instead,

With multiple fundraising deals in recent weeks, the wave into alternative investments is showing no signs of crashing in the new year. On Tuesday, CAIS, a digital platform offering financial advisors access to alternative funds and products, announced a $225 million round of funding led by Apollo and Motive Partners, with additional investment from Franklin

A client arbitration complaint in which a broker’s living trust sought $20 million in damages will be removed from another financial advisor’s record after a panel granted the expungement. The Amended and Restated Julian I. Stoopler Living Trust had settled the case against Merrill Lynch for $595,000 a couple of months before the Jan. 11

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, January 12, 2022. Brendan McDermid | Reuters Earnings season begins with a focus on guidance.  It’s a cliché, but it’s true:  Investors are focused on the future, not the past.  But it’s even more true for 2022 than most other

Goldman Sachs Group delayed its return to office for staff in the U.S. by another two weeks as it looks to wait out the COVID-19 surge nationwide. Goldman’s employees were told they could delay returning until Feb. 1, according to a person familiar with the matter. The bank’s management, aggressive champions of having its offices

After about 100 other SEC cases involving disclosures of 12b-1 fees in the past three years, a midsize firm resolved the regulator’s allegations that it failed to disclose its conflicts of interest. O.N. Investment Management, the RIA subsidiary of Cincinnati-based independent brokerage The O.N. Equity Sales Company (Onesco) and insurer Ohio National, breached its fiduciary

It has been nearly two years since James “Jim” Seegan’s wife and son found him dead in his Carrollton, Texas, home office. His former friend and financial advisor, Keith Todd Ashley, stands accused of killing Seegan and staging the crime scene to make it appear as if Seegan had taken his own life. In the

In a new episode of the Financial Planning Podcast, CFP Board CEO Kevin Keller explains the certification organization’s continuing efforts to reform its enforcement programs. Since Keller took over the role in 2007, the number of CFP certificants has grown by more than 50% to more than 92,000 certified financial planners. Enforcement has emerged as

A million-dollar client arbitration complaint against Raymond James involving “a highly speculative options strategy” ended in a settlement and the expungement of a broker’s record. The firm agreed to pay a settlement of $250,000 to Lawrence A. Savarese Jr. on behalf of the Lawrence A. Savarese Revocable Living Trust and Jennifer D. Port for the

Shannon Eusey first sketched out her idea for a financial planning firm when she was studying for an MBA and working at a small wealth management firm in Los Angeles. In a 25-page paper for her “Entrepreneurship and Venture Initiation” class at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management in 2001, she wrote a business plan for

CEO Jamie Dimon issued a warning to the vaccine holdouts among JPMorgan Chase staff in New York. “To go to the office you, have to be vaxxed. And if you aren’t going to get vaxxed, you won’t be able to work in that office,” Dimon said Monday in an interview on CNBC. “And we’re not

With faster and more user-friendly investment technology comes greater risks to clients vulnerable to fraud, according to state regulators. Cryptocurrency and other digital assets, promissory note fraud, internet and social media scams and abuses of self-directed IRAs are the top four threats to investors in 2022, according to a survey of 46 state regulators released

The semiconductor industry has gotten much attention over the last couple of years from consumers to lawmakers to investors because of the ubiquity of chips in electronic devices, cars, and yes, even in your refrigerator. Recently, there has been a massive shortage of chips due to a range of complicated factors. At the onset of