Mutual funds and independent money managers made a great start in the late 90’s, when they began offering “value-added” services instead of just the usual “dog and pony” shows with pizza and Pepsi. Furthermore, they were able to build and maintain their relationships with financial advisors and branch managers through marketing, practice management, business building, and asset-capturing strategies. (more…)

Financial advisors who either specialize in insurance products or include insurance products as part of their business mix have the responsibility of keeping up to date with changes in tax laws and government benefits programs, and other state and federal regulations. Most state licensing authorities have mandatory continuing education requirements focusing on insurance laws, consumer protection, and the technical details of various insurance policies, which means that advisors have a lot to keep up with.

Even though advisors are aware of these responsibilities and requirements, they can find it a burden having it to fulfill these obligations on top of their firm element requirements. So let’s review the challenges and see if we can find any possible solutions. (more…)

Yes, it’s a daunting task ensuring that your firm is meeting its NASD firm element requirements for your new intern; and it’s not like you can rest on your laurels and delegate the job to someone else. Researching, evaluating and choosing a qualified continuing education (CE) provider is difficult, as all in all, there are more than 100 CE providers for the NASD firm element. And if we include insurance CE, well… that’s a whole other story. At last count there were more than 4,000 providers at national, state, and local levels for insurance continuing education—but who’s counting? (more…)

By Sydney LeBlanc

In July of 1995, our world—as we knew it—changed. That’s when the landmark NASD Continuing Education Rule 1120 mandating CE requirements for all registered reps and broker dealers took effect through the Securities Industry Continuing Education Program.

The two primary directives of the program are the same today as they were then: a Regulatory Element and a Firm Element.

For the benefit of those who are either new to the world of continuing education or need a refresher, following is a brief discussion of these elements and their definitions. (more…)