Women & Planning

When it comes to the clients they serve, advisors need to think about the now and the new, not the next, and step up their offerings in key areas.

Morgan Stanley has picked an interesting moment to press ahead with expanding its offering of ESG-themed funds.

It is far easier to engage people and reach them at an emotional level with video than with any other medium.

If a US recession is looming, no one told the smiling well-suited women and men drinking top-shelf liquor at Miami’s rooftop pools and mingling along Tampa’s bayside terraces during two top metals industry events.

“Geopolitical recession” doesn’t exist as a defined term. But it should, according to Ian Bremmer. If relations among global powers were framed in economic terms, we would be in the “bust” phase of the business cycle, he said.

For RIAs, self-knowledge – which includes an understanding of the firm’s ideal client persona – is the first and most necessary step on the road to success and scalability.

Three decades after helping give birth to the ETF industry, Morgan Stanley is officially back in the game in what could be a milestone moment for the investing world.

RIAs will be more financially successful, will retain and attract more investment assets, and will produce superior financial results for their retiree clients when they embrace new thinking that begins with the acknowledgment that, in practice, the safe withdrawal rate is a fiction.

Here are six steps to implement multiple niches, bring in new clients, and accelerate their growth goals.

Older advisors need to step aside and make room for the up and comers.

No advisor would dream of engaging in the kind of behavior that occurred at Purdue University in early December.

If you are competing with the best of the best, how do you rise above the competition?

Paying down student debt or saving for retirement can seem like mutually exclusive goals. A little-known workplace benefit could soon allow more workers to do both.

Behind the five-decade low US unemployment rate of 3.5% lies a 2.6 million-person mystery.

Advisors must redesign their entire approach, starting from the client's point of view.

Let me share a story of an RIA who will be forced to mount a legal defense because of a lawsuit that is likely to be filed by two of his retired clients.

I've put together four steps to grow your client base – this month.

Here’s a worthy goal to contemplate for 2023: Reduce stress and anxiety in your life, especially from family. The benefits of achieving this goal are significant.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System is making a $1 billion wager that small private equity firms without the heft of the biggest buyout institutions can boost the pension giant’s returns and clout.

Tight monetary policy and rising government debt will drive a regime of high interest rates, depressing stock prices and destroying the wealth of clients, most severely those at or near retirement.

The $6.5 trillion US ETF industry boomed in 2022 as innovative product debuts and market volatility fueled a near-record number of launches. But the fanfare revealed a major flaw in the space: the lack of women helming the funds.

Relative to the accumulation phase, strategies that mitigate the unique risks faced by retirees in decumulation are less understood and researched. By identifying and illustrating those risks, planners can better prepare clients for retirement.

Congress is on the verge of passing a bill called SECURE 2.0 to help American workers save for retirement.

The end of 2022 can’t come soon enough for many in the banking industry. Sputtering capital markets, job cuts, raging inflation, the crypto meltdown and rising interest rates marked a year of upheaval.

Over the years, clients have told me what resonated when I spoke to them. But there have been three situations that go beyond my expertise and ability to be helpful.

Allan Roth’s recent article, The 4% Rule Just Became a Whole Lot Easier, promises too much, makes inaccurate comparisons and blurs the notion of risk.

“I have never seen so much bearishness in the market,” Jeremy Siegel said, “which is a great sign for stock investors.”

As climate change moved higher on the Wall Street agenda, there had been fewer indications that financial giants took similar interest in the biodiversity crisis.

The breakthrough in nuclear fusion is likely to spark investment in the technology that could transform the global energy landscape with nearly limitless clean energy.

Here are four questions independent financial advisors should ask before choosing a TAMP.

The Twitter chatter of Ford Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley is good vibes only: factory photos, race tracks, corporate boosterism and a lot of retweets of Ford customers gushing about their vehicles. It’s all cars, and it’s all anodyne.

The following is a loose collection of random thoughts and observations on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Rather than a coherent article, I offer some insights that have emerged as the war has dragged on.

Here are three signals people use to let you know when they are feeling pushed.

If you aren’t willing to niche, at least decide whether you are trying to help your clients thrive or survive. Then build a message around one of those themes. Are you selling them life rafts (survive) or sailboats (thrive)?

How will you leverage networking’s holiday season grand finale without being perceived as the friend who is desperate for business?

Here are some of the cues that indicate a prospect has accepted what you have presented and want you to move on to the next step.

The overriding story of Vietnam is the triumph of free markets over communism.

What problem could be solved or what issue or challenge could be addressed that would offer wide appeal to the expansive advisor community? The answer that made sense to me was financial education.

Here are some suggestions to consider when remarrying.

It took 16 months to pay off my husband’s student loans after we got married.

As veterans of this male-dominated industry, we have faced our fair share of challenges and uncertainty. However, that led us to venture out on our own and start solo planning firms.

Aligning your stated values and your spending (a core tenet of ESG investing) is something I encourage as part of financial wellness. But it isn’t always easy to do.

Few would disagree that the period from 1870-2010 saw immense technological advancements that improved our quality of life. But, according to Bradford DeLong, far fewer advances lie ahead, and societies should adapt by “slouching” away from a free-market system. He’s wrong on both counts.

This is Advisor Perspectives' fourth consecutive year of ranking ahead of The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg among the e-newsletters listed, with 14% more readership across the 1,120 financial advisors surveyed. Advisor Perspectives also claimed the number one spot for e-newsletters among the independent registered investment advisor (RIA) segment.

The Federal Reserve’s influential staff judges that under the surface the US economy is running even hotter than they thought, helping to explain why inflation remains at a 40-year high and providing reason to expect even more interest-rate hikes.

Reg BI is the most divisive issue in the fiduciary discussion and was a focus of the discussion during September’s event.

I know what you’re thinking: “Longevicide? What is that?”

Bank of America has positioned itself as one of the leading lenders in the green credit space, while peer Goldman Sachs is facing questions from the Securities and Exchange Commission over greenwashing claims.

Here are five steps female financial advisors should take when putting a continuity plan in place for their firm.

What will happen to the clients of advisors who don’t have a formal succession plan in place?

The Harvard Business Review is celebrating its 100th birthday with a fat book of its most influential and innovative articles and an electronic fanfare of videos, charts and online articles.

Fidelity Investments and Vanguard announced a rare collaborative effort Wednesday to help employees keep their retirement savings in tax-advantaged accounts like 401(k)s when they switch jobs.

I’ll share some insights as you encourage your team to be more open-minded and innovative and to help with facilitating change efforts within your organization.

The search for information and direction about financial assistance and special-needs planning can be especially frustrating for caregivers.

Most seers believe the US labor market is overly strong.

What are the worst ROI marketing tactics advisors are taking on today? Behold, the top four.

Insurance protects against losses – fires, floods or a wrecked car. Because of the life-altering consequences of such as loss, clients rarely question the cost of the insurance. When viewed through an analogous framework, the cost of lifetime-income insurance, such as a GLWB, is fairly priced.

In a surprise move, General Motors Co. this week joined forces with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to recommend tougher emissions rules for passenger vehicles. But skeptics remain unconvinced by the company’s professed commitment to going green, citing GM’s history of battling tougher fuel economy rules.

Compared to the dotcom and great financial crisis recessions, our fiscal and monetary response over the last two years has been far more aggressive. But the true cost – in terms of inflation – presents a more threatening risk.

When you choose a client niche, you may find that the focus is too narrow or too broad. Here’s how you can remedy the situation.