Investment advisers' confidence in the financial health of the insurance industry and#8212; though still underwhelming and#8212; is on the rebound, according to the InvestmentNews 2010 Insurance Product Survey.
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Stock market volatility has caused some advisers to shy away from the sexiest life insurance policies and#8212; variable universal life and variable life and#8212; and to steer clients to a tamer cousin, universal life.
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Clearing firms, facing declining revenue and in-creased competition, have something new to worry about: More and more broker-dealers are seeking loans as an incentive to sign on with a new firm.
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If LPL decides to launch anytime soon and#8212; as of yet, no date has been set and#8212; it will be doing so smack dab in the middle of an incredibly difficult market for IPOs in general and financial services stocks in particular.
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Senate Democrats this week will try to cobble together the 60 votes required to pass legislation that would renew dozens of tax breaks and#8212; and introduce several tax hikes and#8212; some of which would significantly affect the financial planning industry.
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As the battle over the inclusion of a fiduciary standard in a comprehensive financial-regulatory-reform bill intensifies, advocates of imposing the standard on all advice givers expressed disappointment in an amendment offered by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, last Thursday.
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Thanks, but no thanks. That's the message a wary U.S. military is sending to financial advisers who want to offer free financial planning to active-duty servicemen and women.
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The SEC's announcement last week that it is launching an investigation of the municipal bond market is aimed at increasing transparency and weeding out conflicts of interest.
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Thomas James readily admits that his impending departure from Raymond James Financial Inc., whose roots go back to a firm founded by his father in 1962, is bittersweet.
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The mutual fund industry has long been dominated by a handful of companies, but continuing fallout from the recent market downturn and other structural factors have created opportunities for nimbler, smaller companies to gain more business.
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