Practice Management

This enables corporations to expense their contributions at a higher tax rate, according to Cerulli. 

However, only 35% of advisers have worked with their clients to develop formal retirement plans.

Almost half of advisers who left their firm moved along with a larger team in 2017, versus 34% in 2012, according to data shared by Fidelity Clearing and Custody Solutions; advisers moving to an independent broker/dealer more often depart as a team versus other movers.

More than 60% of advisers polled by Cerulli Associates agree that client demand for “financial planning” is increasing; at the same time, broker/dealers are refining their digital planning support for advisers in order to retain top talent.

The goal is to motivate more women to become financial advisers through business network referrals.

With so much uncertainty now overhanging the future of the DOL fiduciary rule expansion, the onus is squarely on advisers, broker/dealers and recordkeepers to decide how they will respond; we hear from one small advisory firm in Northern Ohio that will carry on with business as usual.

Working Texas Tech University, Advisor Group has published a new survey examining how young professionals entering the advisory filed think about their current work and future career prospects; researchers also highlight the importance of community engagement for elevating the advisory profession. 

Looking to 2018 and beyond, traditional advisers, brokerage firms and banks are widely (and aggressively) seeking to integrate digital advice into their service offerings; the CFP Board Center for Financial Planning offers a digital advice road map to help make sense of it all.

Annually, the top tier of retirement plan advisers from across the U.S., including the PLANADVISER Top 100 and the PLANSPONSOR Retirement Plan Advisers of the Year, gather in Orlando, Florida, for three days of discussion and debate; reserve your spot today for the 2018 event. 

Josh Robbins, lead strategy officer for the direct-to-sponsor plan provider America’s Best 401K, offers a closer look at the virtues and potential weaknesses of the firm’s “disruptor” model and short sales cycle.

The direct-to-sponsor firm proudly brands itself as an advisory industry disruptor, boasting fast revenue growth and a 30-day average sales cycle; we sit down with lead strategy officer Josh Robbins for a frank conversation about what comes next for the company and its “traditional” competition.

There were 41 deals in the fourth quarter.

Cerulli categorizes consolidator firms into three segments, and “The merits and drawbacks of each segment’s business model will often depend on the adviser’s motivations for affiliating with a larger partner.”

Only 27% of RIAs surveyed by TD Ameritrade suggest that “cybersecurity issues,” even when very broadly defined, are likely to impact client portfolios during 2018; experts suggest this is just wishful thinking.

Advisers find that getting enough referrals to attain their growth goals is a challenge.

A TD Ameritrade survey found interest in becoming an independent RIA among advisers is high, yet uncertainty about the future is keeping most from making their move.

A new Corporate Insight report offers a brief history of the development of financial services technology security measures introduced since 1996—delivering for retirement plan fiduciaries important contextual information about today’s evolving best practices.

Troubling, many of the companies that say they have formal succession planning programs in place in truth dedicate very few hard-dollar resources, if any, to help.

More than 60% of advisers say they work within a team structure, yet only one-third of teams regularly collaborate in their daily decisions and processes.

Cerulli says they are more receptive to comprehensive financial planning than Gen X or Boomer advisers.