Industry News

Great Depression lessons apply today

The basic challenge for equity investors hasn’t changed much over the last century: how do you assemble a portfolio of stocks that are likely to grow over time, at prices that allow for attractive returns relative to the level of risk? The answer lies in investing in high-quality companies for the long term, using fundamental […]

By Jeffrey Russell and Robert Swab |August 16, 2010

6 min read

MFDA issues reasons on four cases

The Mutual Fund Dealers Association has released reasons for decisions in four cases, involving allegations of churning DSC funds, selling outside of the dealer, conducting outside business activities, and borrowing from clients. Below are some cautionary tales of things you should avoid doing. MFDA Hearing Panel issues Reasons for Decision (Misconduct) in the Matter of […]

By Steven Lamb |August 13, 2010

2 min read

Advisors offer hot tips…on movies

Advisors find finance flicks amusing and frustrating. Frustrating because they perpetuate a cowboy image of the industry focused on greed with no concept of duty of care or responsibility to the client. Movies like these, they say, hurt the industry as they create an image that either detracts people from trusting advisors or makes them […]

By Vikram Barhat |August 13, 2010

3 min read

Fee transparency trumps structure: readers

Our mailbox continues to fill with opinions on the fate of trailer commissions, following a story we ran earlier this week on 12(b)-1 fees in the U.S. With all the fuss over how an advisor is compensated, one reader pointed out that un-advised investors are frequently still paying the fee for advise to their execution-only […]

By Steven Lamb |August 13, 2010

3 min read