Trader Talk

A former Edward Jones advisor accused of stealing nearly $800,000 from three elderly clients to cover his personal expenses has been indicted on federal fraud charges. Ronald T. Molo, 61, has been charged with six counts of wire fraud in the U.S. District Court in Chicago for a scheme he allegedly carried out from January

A giant wealth manager that once held the distinction of the largest headcount of financial advisors for three years has lost several hundred from its ranks over the past 12 months. Edward Jones has never reached the goal it stated in 2015 of employing 20,000 registered representatives by 2020, although the St. Louis-based firm needed

Any responsible financial advisor is well-informed on the inner workings of traditional finance, namely the exchanges, brokers and custodians that play critical roles in their day-to-day business operations. The same should be true when it comes to cryptoassets. Within the scope of the crypto ecosystem, these entities serve the same general functions — facilitating the

A New Jersey advisors thought the grass might be greener when he left RBC Wealth Management for UBS, only to do an about face less than three months later and rejoin his former firm. Cerulli Associates research shows that affluent investors are asking advisors for more guidance while also asserting more control over their investments.

Is there still a future for the 60/40 portfolio? With inflation on the rise and stocks continuing to make steady gains, investors’ increased willingness to take on risk has left a question mark hanging over the classic investment strategy. The decade’s 20 best-performing balanced funds with an equity allocation of 50% to 70%, and at

Valuations do not matter – until they do. As the pandemic was in full swing during 2020, green energy stocks and the ETFs that hold them did incredibly well. BlackRock Inc.’s Global Clean Energy ETF (ticker ICLN) and the Invesco Solar ETF (TAN) were up 71% and 125%, respectively, before the 2020 election. When it

RIA clients seeking compensation for losses as a result of advisors’ harmful conduct may have an even smaller chance of success than customers of dually registered firms and brokerages. Customer agreements requiring RIA clients to pursue any claims through arbitration forums operated by alternative dispute resolution services JAMS and the American Arbitration Association pose costs

The gap between the cost-of-living adjustment formula for Social Security benefits and one not in use but long favored by advocates for retirees is getting smaller, and the differences between them murkier. About 64 million beneficiaries will receive the largest COLA in nearly 40 years in January, after inflation boosted the costs captured by the

The investments firms are making in mobile apps are starting to pay off, but the financial advice industry still has a long way to go. Three-quarters of wealth management firms made feature enhancements to their apps over the past year, up from 44% in 2020, according to J.D. Power. As a result, overall customer satisfaction

Officials from Edward Jones say they plan to fight a recent jury decision that awarded $30 million to one of its former brokers who became the target of an online smear campaign involving fake Craigslist sex ads. In early September, a six-year legal legal battle came to a point of resolution when Dalas Gundersen was

Images traditionally used in financial services literature would have us believe that everyone’s perfect idea of retirement involves sitting in a beach chair, soaking up the sun with a book in hand and toes wiggled into the sand. But does this unilateral perception reflect the reality of what your client base wants or needs? Probably

The latest trend sweeping through wealthtech is providing independent advisors with digital access to structured investments. But some worry they may be overly simplifying the complex, expensive and often risky products. Envestnet last week announced plans to integrate Simon Markets, a structured investments fintech company that spun out of Goldman Sachs in 2018, across its

It’s a perennial mantra from the wealth management industry: “Don’t let the tax tail wag the investment dog.” But as tax hikes loom under the Biden administration, it may be time to stop uncritically repeating the decades-old command. The conventional wisdom cautions investors not to let their worries about the taxes they would owe in

The head of a Miami-based financial advisory firm has been accused of helping her romantic and business partner carry out a cherry-picking scheme that funneled millions of dollars into accounts owned by his parents. The SEC charged Lina Maria Garcia, president and chief compliance officer of UCB Financial Advisers, for her alleged role in the

UBS Group AG nominated former Morgan Stanley President Colm Kelleher as its next chairman, tapping an executive with broad banking and wealth experience to help oversee the firm’s pivot toward digital. Kelleher, 64, will stand for election to succeed Axel Weber at the Swiss firm’s annual meeting in April, UBS said in a statement Saturday,

Revenue from the U.S. estate tax has been cut in half in two years, new data from the Internal Revenue Service shows, even as dynastic wealth soars. Just 1,275 wealthy families paid $9.3 billion in estate tax to the U.S. Treasury in 2020. As recently as 2018, the IRS collected more than $20 billion from

As Democrats haggle over the future of the controversial state and local tax deduction, it’s worth remembering that the current cap of $10,000 isn’t adjusted for inflation. That was by design when Republicans rewrote the tax rules in 2017 and removed what had previously been an unlimited SALT deduction. And it wasn’t a novel move;

John Jacobs is excited about the future. His job is to find solutions to the problems plaguing the financial industry, and he thinks there is a lot to fix. But he also sees unprecedented change happening now. In his nearly 40 years of industry experience, the longtime Nasdaq executive who now serves as executive director

Suddenly, annuities seem to be everywhere. Sales of a variety linked to the decade-long bull market on Wall Street are booming. Companies can now offer the guaranteed-income insurance in retirement plans for employees. Insurers are designing fee-based contracts aimed at countering the industry’s reputation as an ATM for commission-greedy brokers. ”The missing piece of your

The House on Friday passed a roughly $2 trillion bill incorporating the core of President Joe Biden’s economic agenda — ramping up funding for the social safety net and increasing taxes on corporations and the wealthy — sending it on to the Senate, where it’s likely to be significantly reshaped. The legislation will likely undergo

As more clients seek politically infused portfolios and products of all bents, a Quaker organization launched a new database tracking the immigration impact of publicly-traded firms. The American Friends Service Committee revealed the findings earlier this month of its research on which companies the organization accuses of “profiting from border militarization and the surveillance and

Ibram X. Kendi’s concept of antiracism has been deemed radical by some. The 39-year-old author, activist and MacArthur Fellow believes that simply being “not racist” is not enough. Instead, the nation’s history of inequality must be acknowledged, and active steps must be taken to dismantle the foundation that has allowed it to continue for generations.

Invesco QQQ and the NCAA are teaming up to launch a simulation to improve financial literacy for college students with several former collegiate and pro athletes serving on the venture’s strategic board. The CFP Board has four new board members. The SEC released its annual report on enforcement actions, and there were record annuity sales

Engage in uncomfortable reflections and conversations. Make mistakes so you can learn from them. And, above all, treat team members, clients or prospects with respect. These are three of the many ways that financial advisors can act as allies or even accomplices or co-conspirators in the fight to close the racial wealth gap and promote

It has been a busy 2021 for Riskalyze CEO Aaron Klein. In January, Cetera announced a deal to make Riskalyze available to the thousands of advisors on its network. It was just the first of a handful of enterprise deals the technology company solidified with large wealth management firms. Over the summer, an escalating rivalry

SEC commissioners Allison Herren Lee and Hester Peirce both agree that climate change disclosures and digital assets are among the most important issues the commission will consider in the coming months. But their positions diverge sharply when it comes to the role the agency plays in their regulation. The robust discussion between Lee and Peirce

The certifying organization overseeing the industry’s largest and most respected planning designation is calling on more wealth managers to release the demographics of their advisors. In sessions at this week’s CFP Board Center for Financial Planning Diversity Summit, executives, academics, advocates and the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus explained why the data they discussed

Ronald J. Adams believes that now is the perfect time for young advisors of color to begin working toward becoming leaders in the industry. That’s not an obvious conclusion looking at an industry in which the vast majority of advisors are white males. But diversity-focused recruitment efforts, greater access to development programs and acknowledgment of

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 25, 2021 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images Retailers are reporting this week.  Here’s the good news: The consumer is strong, and retail balance sheets have dramatically improved. “I have been bullish for over a year,” David Berman, portfolio

InvestCloud, a financial technology provider whose backers include JPMorgan Chase, is in the early stages of considering an initial public offering amid strong investor demand for asset management software, according to people familiar with the matter. The company is talking to potential advisors about an IPO next year, said the people, who asked not to