Trader Talk

The SEC is finally bringing its rules on advisor advertising into the 21st century. In its first update in decades, the SEC will allow financial advisors to share client testimonials and endorsements. The new rules also account for how communications technology and investor expectations have evolved since the previous rule was passed nearly 60 years

As wealth managers adjust to a new era of disclosure under the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest, the agency’s latest enforcement case shows the high stakes. Voya Financial Advisors agreed to pay $22.9 million — or 5% of its annual revenue, according to Financial Planning’s annual IBD Elite survey — to settle SEC allegations that it

Near the start of the new year, Transamerica Financial Advisors may be finished paying for alleged regulatory woes from the first half of the recently completed decade. The wealth manager whose parent firm also owns an insurer and asset manager agreed to pay nearly $9 million to settle its third significant regulatory case relating to

The SEC is pursuing legal action against a prominent Tennessee RIA for allegedly failing to disclose conflicts of interest and overcharging clients for fees on mutual funds when lower-cost shares were available, the latest reminder that share classes and fees remain a top concern at the commission. The commission’s complaint against CapWealth Advisors contends that

Four financial advisors are teaming up with NAPFA members to provide a new entry path into fee-only planning careers — one without asset or sales goals. The BLatinX Internship Program, or BLX for short, aims to connect some 100 college students, recent graduates or career-changers who are Black or Latino with internships in fee-only practices

Market volatility driven by the coronavirus pandemic and unprecedented political climate this year has put conventional investing wisdom to the test. With an average gain of more than 108%, and at least $100 million in assets under management, the 20 mutual funds and ETFs with the biggest gains of 2020 also carry an average fee

Three of Cetera Financial Group’s independent broker-dealers allegedly failed to adequately supervise transactions at 32 hybrid RIAs over a period of more than five years Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Advisors and Cetera Financial Specialists agreed to pay a fine of $1 million after failing to correct the deficiency cited three different times by SEC examiners

Raymond James’ Alex. Brown division picked up a wirehouse advisor managing $658 million in client assets, adding to the unit’s $3.7 billion in new hires this year. “This year by all metrics was a very successful year for Alex. Brown — particularly considering the backdrop we were all facing,” says Haig Ariyan, head of Global

UBS is closing the year with a bang. The wirehouse recruited two advisors who oversaw $1.7 billion in client assets while at Goldman Sachs. In doing so, UBS built on several recent big hires at the firm. Earlier this month, the firm picked up a private banking team from JPMorgan that oversaw $9 billion in

In his eighth decade, Benjamin Franklin penned a supplement to his will to give some of his wealth back to the country he helped establish. It specified that a portion of his estate must go to enterprising youths seeking to start a business or toward city improvements in Boston and Philadelphia. Thanks to his fascination

A handful of big financial firms are plunging into the world of cryptocurrency custody services. Though some government officials had given the OK, many companies have had concerns about regulatory scrutiny and legal liability. They also lacked the technology and expertise that are necessary to do the job and feared the financial or reputational risks

Robinhood Markets became ubiquitous through a popular app that prompted millions of investors to start trading stocks. But unknown until now is that the brokerage feared author Michael Lewis’s seminal take down of high-speed traders might derail the business before it even got off the ground. The revelation is buried in a Thursday SEC enforcement

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. NYSE Electric vehicle maker Tesla is poised to enter the S&P 500 in what will be the largest rebalancing in the history of that index. The new index with Tesla in it begins trading on Monday, but all the trading action happens at the

As financial advisors and wealth management executives well know, the movement of practices and client assets is the lifeblood of the industry. IBDs need to recruit and retain advisors in order to grow their businesses. Out of some 250 recruiting moves announced in the indie channel this year, Financial Planning compiled a ranking of the

After a year of upheaval, wirehouse advisors can expect few changes in 2021 — at least as far as comp plans go. Morgan Stanley, which recently unveiled its 2021 compensation plan, mirrored similar moves at UBS and Merrill Lynch, both of which kept core grids that determine payouts intact. Industry insiders aren’t surprised, noting it

Robinhood Financial’s regulatory woes are piling up. The SEC charged the stock trading app Thursday morning with misleading customers about how it earns revenue, and for failing to seek the best reasonably available terms to execute trade orders. The charge comes a day after Massachusetts filed a complaint alleging Robinhood violated the state’s fiduciary duty.

Wells Fargo will keep most employees working from home for at least a month longer than last announced. “Wells Fargo will extend its current operating model through at least March 1, which is an extension from our prior announcement of Feb. 1,” Chief Operating Officer Scott Powell wrote Wednesday in an all-employee email seen by

Even insurance companies are jumping on the cash management bandwagon. Mass Mutual Life Insurance Company is acquiring Flourish, an advisor fintech firm, from Stone Ridge Holdings Group for an undisclosed amount. The fintech is best known for Flourish Cash, which allocates client cash to a network of FDIC-member banks to earn a higher annual interest

Massachusetts’ state securities regulator has filed the first action enforcing its fiduciary rule, accusing free trading app Robinhood of exposing young, inexperienced investors to “unnecessary trading risks.” Robinhood allegedly uses aggressive tactics to attract rookie investors, manipulates them with gamification strategies and doesn’t do enough to prevent frequent outages and disruptions to its trading platform,

In the waning days of the Trump administration, the Department of Labor has finalized its controversial replacement for the Obama-era fiduciary rule, one that seems doomed to be replaced, in turn, by the incoming Biden administration. The department’s rulemaking, which sets down new regulations governing retirement investment advice to align with the SEC’s Reg Best

Every December for the past 13 years Art Cashin and his “friends of fermentation” have gathered at the front bar at Bobby Van’s Steakhouse across from the NYSE to celebrate the holidays, and we’ve used the opportunity to get Art’s take on the year ahead. We weren’t able to meet at Bobby Van’s this year,

UBS enticed over a $9 billion team that was previously with J.P. Morgan’s private bank. It’s the wirehouse’s second-biggest hire of the year — and one of the industry’s largest poaches in 2020. The team joined UBS’ private wealth management unit in Atlanta where they report to Lane Strumlauf, Southeast private wealth management market head.

Double-digit gains and relatively low fees are not typical characteristics of funds with hefty outflows. But 2020 was an unusual year. With the COVID-19 pandemic and presidential election dominating headlines and fueling volatility this year, many investors flocked away from stock funds just as markets were picking up, says Rob Glownia, senior portfolio manager and

Ameriprise Financial, CI Financial and the private equity firms GTCR and Reverence Capital Partners are weighing second-round bids for Wells Fargo’s asset management arm, according to people familiar with the matter. The offers are due later this month, said one of the people, asking not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. Wells Fargo

UBS won’t be making changes to its advisor pay plan next year. After a tumultuous 2020, that’s likely welcome news to the wirehouse’s more than 6,000 advisors. “In this year of stress, not changing is a safe move, particularly if only minor tweaks would likely be considered anyway,” compensation consultant Andy Tasnady said in an

A quartet of wirehouse advisors managing nearly $5 billion in client assets launched an independent RIA under a private equity-backed holding company. Financial advisors Jeffrey Kobernick, Robert Sechan, Walter Granruth and John Straus Jr. left UBS to start NewEdge Wealth, the team said Dec. 14. NewEdge is a partnership with EdgeCo Holdings, which is backed

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, stands on the construction site of the Tesla Gigafactory in Grünheide near Berlin, September 3, 2020. Patrick Pleul | picture alliance | Getty Images The addition of Tesla into the S&P 500 at the close this Friday will be one of the biggest trading days in history, but it is

For our own accounting and tax firms, as well as the client businesses we advise, we have had a year like no other. First, we had the tax-filing extension last April. Then government stimulus money was mailed out, PPP loans were made available, and the forgiveness process for those loans has begun. While having all

2020. What a year. Will 2021 be as tumultuous? Hopefully not. But it will likely be eventful as key industry players, regulators, advisors and others are poised to change the business. The list below identifies those with potential to be the industry’s changemakers next year. Some are veterans of the business, others working to change

The twin dynamics of expiring COVID-19 relief and a transition to a new presidential administration are making the end of this year a turbo-charged version of the usual rush by businesses and households alike to lock in tax reductions. With President-elect Biden aiming to raise a number of levies, now is the time to take