Financial Planning - April 2021

Small custodians, big business

After the Schwab-TD merger, rival firms are re-thinking the settlement process, testing new pricing models, and improving advisor efficiency and service. Is David sprinting past Goliath?

"The game changed in 2020 and there’s a lot we have learned that can potentially skyrocket our success through 2021," writes Chip Munn.

Arrogance, naiveté and that chief suspect, procrastination, can all undermine best laid advancement plans, writes recruiter Mark Elzweig.

More than one-third of U.S. brokerage clients opened their first accounts in 2020, according to new research from the FINRA Foundation.

New entrants are gaining traction while established players continue to grow.

Beverley Schottenstein accused the bank and the brokers of unauthorized trading of “multiple auto-callable structured notes and various other securities,” among other alleged misconduct.

Those with the resources to sort through compliance thickets may be better positioned to take advantage of some long-awaited changes.

The dispute highlights the complicated nature of non-solicitation carve-outs when advisors switch firms.

The first deal under new Betterment CEO Sarah Levy will net the firm 17,000 accounts and $190 million in client assets.

After going public, the clearing firm plans to to grow and nudge further into the traditional advisory space, says its president.

The planning needs and strategies for a woman should focus more heavily on longevity and creating lifetime income streams after her spouse has passed away.

Career mobility and heightened client dependence are two unexpected by-products of extreme uncertainty, writes Jodi Perry.

It’s complicated, but possible, to limit risk and liability when moving a practice.

Advisors can enhance strategies by recognizing set patterns of behavior during this period.

The stock exchange has said it will end trading in shares of certain China-based companies, thanks to a long-running accounting dispute, writes Earl Carr.

All trusts named as beneficiaries before the SECURE Act may need to be updated, says one analyst.