Financial Planning Magazine

Business goals cannot always put clients’ best interests first. Here’s why even the executives leading fast-expanding advisory firms say the critics have a point.

At the forefront of AI invention and integration, the inaugural Innovation Award winners use wealth management technology to benefit their clients — and their bottom lines.

The largest firms enjoy distinct advantages, to be sure. But many small and midsize independent wealth management firms have an edge, too.

With brokerages, consolidation, lawsuits and more, independence ain’t what it used to be. Advisors who want to break away must contend with ever-changing options and obstacles to define their own version of independence.

Advisors are faced with cutting-edge tech that will shape the industry, as well as questions about its reliability.

After getting caught in the culture wars and suffering massive outflows, ESG funds looked down for the count. Here’s what experts say is next.

Financial advice is a crowded field. Experts share techniques to find new clients and distinguish your business.

Clients across generations have different expectations of their financial advisors. Here’s how everyone wins.

How wirehouses are recruiting and retaining advisors amid waves of independence.

How the big business benefits only certain RIAs

Independent branches are playing a pivotal role in the industry — regardless of anyone’s opinion or awareness of them.

Between conflicting data points and countless buzzy “best practices,” it’s easy for advisory firms to get caught up in the weeds on the elusive business booster

As sustainable investing principles weather a growing backlash, the biggest asset managers are pivoting in how they talk about environmental, social and governance funds.

Cash sweeps are lucrative to the industry, but not to clients. Here’s how financial advisors can get greater yields.

No one knows how firms should leverage the budding metaverse. If someone suggests otherwise, their confidence is likely virtual.

How advisory firms confuse clients and cloud wealth management

The rise and fall of Freedom National Bank, an often-overlooked episode in the retired baseball legend’s life, carries lessons for today.

Transition planning can involve some explosive emotions. Here’s how to navigate them without blowing up the future.

Market volatility and economic uncertainty have made the end-of-year tax planning ritual more complex.

Lacking any formal codification or an accurate count of customers, the planning profession is struggling with some fundamental questions.

FP’s 37th annual IBD Elite issue examines how firms unafraid of their branding as brokers are changing the industry.

Marketing can lift advisory businesses to new heights by helping financial advisors identify their value proposition, make an inclusive appeal and use new digital tools

How labels are blurring the 21st century’s biggest investing trend

How confidence, customer service and cash can help wealth management stay ahead of the curve and future-proof the industry.

Wealth managers trail other financial firms in adoption of three basic cybersecurity steps that could soon be mandatory.

The story of an obscure strategy for the ultrawealthy that became a $1 trillion opportunity for the masses

Billion-dollar funds are fighting each other for stakes in firms, pushing up prices and altering the landscape of Financial planning for advisors and their clients.

Newer contracts scrap conflict-laden commissions and aren’t as complicated for investors to understand. Will independent advisors bite?

FP’s annual RIA Leaders issue examines the industry’s fragmentation and diagnoses the problem with rankings.

LPL navigates its trickiest relationship with hybrid RIAs, and the stakes are high. After a year marked by hate and violence, Asian American advisors reflect on the industry’s potential.

According to Financial Planning’s 2021 Tech Survey, large firms are ramping up spending while smaller firms are keeping budgets modest. Are they starting to fall behind?

After more than a year in lockdown, here’s what advisors think about returning to the office.

With 212 designations to confuse investors and advisors, here are credentials that count.

After the Schwab-TD merger, rival firms are reaching for new business opportunities. Is David sprinting past Goliath?

Winging it during the pandemic, advisors came up with new ways to connect with clients and prospects. The best hacks are here to stay.

Allegations of murder, years-long theft and “hidden secrets of the wealthy.” What happened — and where were the regulators?

Benefits are an increasingly important part of the mix for RIAs while IBDs are looking to take a page from their smaller competitors’ playbook.

This year’s RIA Leaders represent an industry that will emerge from a post-COVID world deeply altered.

How Leading Broker-Dealer are meeting the Challenge

Northwestern Mutual’s practices raise concerns about the nature of retail advice, just as wealth management is facing greater scrutiny under new rules.

Grappling with margin pressure, consolidation and fragmentation, the sector questions its identity

Why aren’t industry and technology connecting?

Covid-19 has forced advisors and firms to rapidly alter their procedures and growth strategies ...

And what they can teach advisors about keeping talent

Clients want digital banking options. Advisors who can’t help them face an uncertain future.

There comes a time when advisors must decide how much more to grow. Here’s how to make the tough choice.

Not much will keep the tech giant from entering wealth management. But advisors still have a few potent weapons at their disposal. They just need to use them.

Digital advice was supposed to overwhelm financial planning. Here’s what actually happened.

With so many CFP Board-registered programs, how can advisors find the best future planners?

To weigh whether a buy-sell agreement is needed, advisors should consider what would happen to their practice if personal disaster struck.

From surcharge brackets to prescription drug plans, the details facing clients can be overwhelming. Here’s how you can help.

Speak to a truly independent firm and learn more about the 76 ways Cambridge can support your and your business.

Successful firms reveal how they appeal to wealthy prospects — and elite advisors.

Firms compete aggressively to recruit advisors like Martin von Känel. The challenge: Keeping them

IBD Elite: There’s no time to celebrate, despite a great year. Instead, firms are preparing for the turbulence of falling traditional revenue and rising expenses.

Women Aren’t A Niche Market

In a major shift on compensation, RIAs are focusing on firm success rather than individual performance.

What Silicon Valley advisors are getting right about the intersection of technology and the future of financial advice

Joe Duran is seeking new investors for United Capital. Will they value the firm as a fintech innovator — or an aging RIA aggregator?

How to turn philanthropy into an opportunity to grow AUM

Advisors are overwhelmed by options. Wary of expensive solutions that don’t do what’s promised, firms risk falling behind. Our annual Tech Survey can help.

Amid the war in Vietnam and turmoil at home, seven companies planted the seeds of what became the nation’s leading independent broker-dealers. Fifty years later, has their success actually compromised their future?

Here’s what HBCUs can teach us about the future of financial planning

The financial planning industry tackles diversity

Planners admit they don’t always follow the strategies they give clients

Small advisory firms have been slow to offer family leave benefits. Planners like Douglas Boneparth want change to happen faster.

Clients are reluctant to talk about aging and illness but these topics can't be ignored, especially as the cost of long-term care climbs

Adapt to Survive

"Culture starts at the top"

Compensation is rising, as are firms' efforts to make work more enjoyable, says Cecilia Williams of Halbert Hargrove

Jana Shoulders and other financial advisors say tax planning is now essential to attracting and retaining high-net-worth clients

Advisors like Greg Hersch have long found professional fulfillment by leaving wirehouses to start their own firms. But with the Broker Protocol collapsing, will they find that path cut off?

RIAs are embracing tech that helps deliver deeper insights & better advice

Educators in planning degree programs are spearheading a classroom revolution. Will they ultimately reshape the industry?

Allan Boomer of Momentum Advisors has joined the ranks of experienced advisors who are mentoring new planners as they join a demanding but rewarding profession.

These plans once merely supplemented health insurance. Now they are a vital part of a broader retirement strategy.

The $600 Million Move

There's a lot more to real estate investing than thinking locally

The Country's Largest Independent Broker-Dealers have seen key profit engines slump. Even so, there's a strong case for optimism.

How a farsighted hire can save firms from a crisis down the road

Career paths are now a critical component of compensation strategies

The future of the rule may be uncertain, but executives such as Advisor Group's Valerie Brown say they've come too far to reverse course

Bowen: 5 Ways to Move Upmarket

Optimism rises post-election

Future Ready

Real estate can be a savy investment - and offer significant tax advantages.

RIA Sellers Guide: Who is buying and what do they want?

Should You Change Your Fees?

The Annual [expanded] Report on Planning Schools

Fiduciary Rule's Impact on LPL

A shakeout is coming for the nation's biggest IBDs

VERES: Fiduciary Rule: The Winners

Storms, Surgeries, Vacations

Finra Erases Many Disciplinary Records

Ross Lawrence knew he eventually wanted to become an RIA owner. At just 28, he got his wish.

37 Ways to Improve Your Business

Pro Bono Honorees

Different Ways to Fight Robos

Lose Income, Gain Business

60 Schools for Financial Planning

Full Results from Our Annual Advisor Poll