Trader Talk

LPL Financial attracted several advisors last week, in addition to a new executive vice president. The FPA gave its P. Kemp Fain Jr. Award to the co-creator of the Academy of Financial Services. And more advisors were on the move. Scroll through for a look at what happened this week in the world of financial

Schmoozing won’t get you anywhere in the CFA program. To earn the chartered financial analyst certification, Wall Street’s aspiring asset managers need to have stone-cold mastery of skills like valuing stocks and analyzing financial statements — not after-hours networking drinks that are hallmarks of an expensive MBA program, an alternative path to getting a job.

Financial Independence Group, a company that connects independent financial advisors with insurance products, is using technology originally developed by Goldman Sachs to power a new advisor dashboard that brings together annuities with structured investments. The new platform, dubbed Quinci, aims to be a one-stop-shop for advisors to access a digital marketplace of fixed and registered

A socially responsible investing startup aims to work with RIAs at “the intersection of vegan ethics and investment management,” according to its founder. As environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing gains popularity among advisors’ clients, a growing number of niche firms are launching to serve expressions of investors’ values. Sloane Ortel, a former CFA Institute

Investors have for years mused whether value investing as we know it is broken — and with good reason if they judged by institutional allocators and the financial news media. Back in 2008, Institutional Investor went so far as to declare value investing dead in the early stages of the mighty bull market that stampeded

On the floor, a trader comforts another during a moment of silence on September 17, 2001. David L Ryan | Boston Globe | Getty Images As we reflect on the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and on the friends and family no longer with us, it’s important to remember that disaster was followed by one of

Coinbase Global’s CEO blasted the SEC for “really sketchy behavior” after the company received a warning that regulators plan to sue. In a Twitter thread, Brian Armstrong said the SEC would be creating an unfair market if it tries to shut down its new lending product, which would allow consumers to earn interest on their

A summer of optimism for a return to in-person wealth management conferences is giving way to a fall of postponements, cancellations and disappointments as the Delta variant of COVID-19 continues to spread across the U.S. The latest comes from Charles Schwab, which is cancelling a series of live receptions across 10 cities to kick off

A financial advisor aiming to use social media as a means of increasing access to quality advice dropped his broker-dealer and launched a fee-only RIA to fulfill his vision. Andre Jean-Pierre of Aces Advisors plans to turn his sizable following on Twitter and Clubhouse into leads for the New York-based RIA and a powerful alternative

Better get used to those Zoom meetings. Alpine Securities, a Utah-based brokerage that’s in hot water with Wall Street’s self-regulator over $5,000 monthly fees, lost its bid to force FINRA to hear its high-stakes disciplinary case in person. A federal district judge in Salt Lake City dismissed Alpine’s lawsuit against FINRA on Sept. 7. Alpine

Wealth management firm Hightower announced Tuesday that it has acquired a $1.5 billion advisory firm based in Arlington, Virginia. Alexandria Capital has 10 advisors and is led by CEO Augustine Hong and CIO Jonathan Ferguson. “Joining Hightower will magnify our ability to deliver the services that clients value most and give us a wide range

A financial advisor seeking a new broker-dealer after her prior firm dropped its international business joined a company whose specialty is serving practices that have foreign clients. Paula Oddone left Wells Fargo Advisors after 18 years to join the Snowden Lane Partners branch in Coral Gables, Florida, her new firm said on Sept. 7. As

People walk past the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street on May 10, 2021 in New York City. Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images Every morning, when I arrive downtown a little before 7 a.m., there’s a group of people who live in the neighborhood walking their dogs in front of the New

Firms across Wall Street have been eager to launch an exchange-traded fund tracking Bitcoin for almost a decade now. By the time they potentially succeed this fall, it may be too late for the product to be useful for everyday investors. Since 2013, investment firms have argued that the products would make buying Bitcoin easier,

Despite stagnating business and the dwindling number of insurance-owned wealth managers, a midsize firm is trying to catch up with its advisory-focused rivals and start growing again. Penn Mutual Life Insurance hired veteran wealth management executive Aaron Gordon to be president of its independent broker-dealer, Hornor, Townsend & Kent, after a shakeup of its executive

Market participants may have misinterpreted comments by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler about payment for order flow. Gensler told Barron’s that a ban on that practice is “on the table” because it generates “an inherent conflict of interest.” Shares of Robinhood Markets Inc., Charles Schwab Corp. and other brokerages most dependent on payment for

State regulators say some interest-bearing crypto accounts with billions of dollars in deposits appear to be unregistered securities that aren’t disclosing their risks to investors. The warnings are coming from states as varied as New Jersey — a longtime financial outpost — Alabama and Kentucky, which are among states that have already brought actions against

U.S. regulators have long said they’re dubious about the green and socially conscious labels that Wall Street applies to $35 trillion in so-called sustainable assets. Now, the watchdogs are hunting for proof that they’re right. For several months, Securities and Exchange Commission examiners have been demanding that money managers explain the standards they use for

Wealthy Americans are scrambling for places to hide from plans by Democrats to hike their taxes. Many on Wall Street think they’ve found just the thing. A niche strategy called private placement life insurance, or PPLI, was already gaining popularity among the very rich for its ability to shield fortunes from taxes. Now some advisers

HD Financial Specialists, an East Amherst, New York, based firm with $100 million in assets under management, is affiliating with Cetera. HD president Sean Hayden is joined by Samuel Bloomberg, CPA and accounting professional; Dina Dalton, AHIP licensed Medicare professional; Seth Hamilton, financial advisor and tax preparer; Lindsey Gamis, client operations; and Wendy Phelps, client

Exterior view of the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street on June 2, 2021. Kena Betancur | VIEW press | Corbis News | Getty Images The IPO pipeline this fall is filling up quickly. The IPO market has already had its busiest year since the internet bubble in 2000, and the fall will likely

Lule Demmissie, formerly president of Ally Invest and, before that, a managing director at TD Ameritrade, is the new U.S. CEO of fintech platform eToro. eToro is a multi-asset investment platform founded in 2007 with more than 23 million registered users who share their investment strategies and can buy, hold and sell assets, and monitor

Bad brokerages all too willing to look past an advisor’s checkered past have a new hoop to jump through before potentially bringing them on board. Under new rules that began on Sept. 1, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, is forcing brokerages that want to hire financial advisors with sketchy records to undergo a

Three percent of RIAs relocated during the coronavirus pandemic, seeking affordable office spaces and more remote work options. Florida saw headquarters increase by 25% between 2020 and 2021, a SmartAsset report found. Small advisory firms were more likely to change their headquarters: Almost 96% of moves were by RIAs with less than $10 billion in

In this article SCHW Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021. Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images It’s good to be in an up market. A new Schwab report on self-directed brokerage accounts within 401(k) plans indicate that active traders have

Small businesses, especially those in financial and professional services, typically rely heavily on in-person meetings, events and conferences to foster connection and visibility with their networks. After all, being present and active in the community is often vital for small business growth and customer retention. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 delta variant has already led to the

(Bloomberg) — Pressure is increasing on managers of ESG-labeled investment funds to show they’re being truthful with customers about what they’re selling. The heat was turned up last week when the Securities and Exchange Commission and BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator, initiated a probe into allegations that Deutsche Bank’s asset-management arm had misstated the environmental —

When I heard the news that Fidelity Investments plans to make 9,000 new hires, mostly in client-facing and technology-related positions, I immediately thought of the old adage that Wall Street hires on the highs and fires on the lows. That saying comes from the investment banking industry and its famously cyclical hiring practices, loading up

Robinhood stock continued to slide after SEC chairman Gary Gensler said a full ban on payment for order flow is “on the table.” Robinhood fell about 3.3% in early trading Tuesday after Gensler told Barron’s the day before that paying for order flow — where brokerages send customer orders to trading firms and receive payments

A view of the New York Stock Exchange Building on Wall Street in Downtown Manhattan in New York City. Roy Rochlin | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images September is the worst month, and it may not matter. It’s an old trader saw: September is the worst month of the year. It’s true, since 1945