We sat down with veteran recruiter Darryl Myers and talked about Drexel, Lehman, and more importantly what advisors are looking for in a good Broker Dealer and how to keep your reps happy at your firm. (more…)

“The Million Dollar Financial Services Practice” is an easy read. It is principally geared towards individuals starting their own practice, or veterans struggling with marketing issues. The book focuses on providing clear and methodical processes for defining and implementing proven marketing tactics for financial practices to use as a guideline. (more…)

Dick Davis is one of the foremost investment newsletter veterans. He founded the Dick Davis Digest in 1982 and built its circulation to over 35,000 subscribers. Davis was one of the pioneers of stock market reporting on television and radio, and wrote a popular stock market column syndicated to over 100 newspapers for over ten years. Davis has personally known many of the most successful money managers in the world. (more…)

Alpha is the difference between a fund’s actual performance and the performance anticipated in light of the fund’s risk (beta) and the market’s behavior. In other words, the value delivered by the fund’s manager above the relevant investment category’s benchmark index. The chart below represents 113 fund families with at least 7 equity funds with 3 years of past performance — the minimum time required to receive an alpha rating — and represents the collective alpha of the family’s equity funds for the period 2004-2006. (more…)

 

 Which Fund Families Have the Best Managers? [17:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Historically, the only securities an advisor looked at were domestic. The securities of countries outside the US were given little consideration, particularly as a possible investment for domestic clients. But the marketplace changed, and continues to do so. (more…)

In 2005, the SEC formally adopted Rule 202, commonly known as the Merrill Lynch Rule and, suddenly, the big firms had “advisors” rather than “brokers,” placing them conceptually on par with the offerings at the indy firms. Problem was, the title change along with the Merrill Lynch Rule exemption didn’t automatically qualify brokers to give investment advice. (more…)

At a very focused conference like this one – loaded with “Silicon Valley” insiders and geeks who live and breathe video over the Web – there was also a lot of talk about new technologies, such as interactive video and HD (high definition) over the Web. (more…)

The business news these days can be downright demoralizing. Housing is in the tank. The sub-prime mortgage debt crisis has made credit much tighter and more expensive. Oil costs are driving energy prices up. Fear of recession has shaken consumer confidence.

What if you could capitalize on the current slowdown without tearing your company apart, and come out stronger than ever? You can. When this particular kind of toxic event occurs, here is a sure-fire “antidote.” (more…)

If you’ve been recruiting for even a short while, you’ve realized that the prospects in your pipeline are your lifeblood. You may believe by now that on your prospect pipeline hangs your every hope for the future. And by now, you may even harbor the common misconception that every prospect in your pipeline will eventually entrust his or her professional future with your firm. (more…)

No matter how tough the going gets, there are always contenders in the financial services industry that are up-and-comers. The four firms profiled are growing rapidly, and are on target to becoming bigger fish in a bigger pond in 2008. (more…)