Elizabeth Warren Rolls Out Plan That Would Rein In Private-Equity Firms

Securities America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc., today announced the successful recruitment of Nittany Brokerage Financial, a multi-service independent financial advisory practice in central Pennsylvania with $182 million in total client assets. Gregg Johnson, Securities America’ s executive vice…

AmeriLife Group, an independent marketing organization, has acquired a majority interest in Brookstone Capital Management, an advisory firm. The combined organization will have more than $3.5 billion in annual life, health and annuity premiums and $2.7 billion in assets under management (AUM).

Middle-class Americans are less optimistic about their ability to achieve upward mobility than they were six months ago, according to new data from CUNA Mutual Group. Close to 50 percent of respondents expressed worry the U.S. will enter a recession in the next year.

Fidelity Investments ®, one of the industry’ s largest and most experienced providers of both low-cost active and index products, today announced an expansion of its index fund offering. Fidelity, with more than $482 billion in index assets under management i, is expanding its index offering with the launch of five new mutual funds:. “Fidelity’ s goal is to provide…

When advisors are taking a well-rounded, multi-faceted approach to engaging their target audiences, prospecting becomes much easier. They find more opportunities and their sales conversations are more challenging and come with longer sales cycles.

Allianz Life, a provider of retirement solutions, including fixed and variable annuities and life insurance for individuals, issued the following news release:. The findings, released today by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, show that Americans are starting to feel the pressure from major market swings over the past few months.

The new law of the land is layered and its potential impacts, numerous. The fiduciary governance experts over at Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young said firms and advisors need to be well-informed and proactive to make sure they’re Reg BI-ready come next year.

When broken down by age, those investors who said they would buy more stock during market swings were predominantly Millennials (55%), while older investors (64% Gen X and 77% Baby Boomers) said they were more likely to hold their course. 

Merkel Financial, a full-service, fee-based wealth management practice, has selected industry-leading Kestra Financial, Inc. as its independent advisor platform. “In selecting Kestra Financial, our objective was to find a partner that would be able to deliver the support, platform, and technology solutions that enable and enhance our ability to continue to…

According to a new Wells Fargo survey, Americans are willing to do what it takes to make their homeownership goals a reality— such as taking on a side job, cutting expenses or considering a less-expensive location. More than one in four (27%) say the down payment is the biggest barrier, and it’s even more pronounced for millennials.

He reports to Burt White, LPL Financial managing director, Investor& Investment Solutions, and is based at the firm’ s Carolinas office. Braganza joins LPL with more than a decade of experience building and leading impactful data analytics teams at Fortune 500 companies. Prior to that, Braganza was a director of Global Analytics and Business Intelligence for…

Roughly half of investors were bullish on the stock market in the second quarter, saying they expected average stock prices to be higher by the end of 2019. At the same time, 23% were distinctly bearish, expecting prices to be lower at year’s end while another 28% predicted they will be the same.

That’s opening a wide range of opportunity for companies including MYM Nutraceuticals Inc.,, Blueberries Medical Corp., Khiron Life Sciences Corporation, and PharmaCielo Ltd., and Charlotte’s Web Holdings Inc.. MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. BREAKING NEWS: MYM Nutraceuticals Inc. just announced its subsidiary in Colombia, Colombia Organica S.A.S has signed…

–The Board of Trustees of Invesco High Income Trust II today declared the following dividend:. Effective August 1, 2018, the Board of Trustees of Invesco High Income Trust II approved a Managed Distribution Plan for the Trust, whereby the Trust increased its monthly dividend to common shareholders to a stated fixed monthly distribution amount based on a…

–LPL Financial LLC, a leading retail investment advisory firm and independent broker-dealer, today announced that financial advisor Charles Hart CFP ® has joined LPL Financial, aligning with the firm’ s broker-dealer platform and with CXI Advisors, a firm backed by CX Institutional on LPL’ s hybrid RIA platform. He joins from Ameriprise Financial Services..

Baby boomer women have a median 401 savings balance of $59,000, less than half of the $138,000, median balance of baby boomer men, according to a recent T. Rowe Price survey focused on the financial behavior and attitudes related to gender. This savings gap carries over to millennial women, who have a median 401 balance that is $30,000 less.

–LPL Financial LLC, a leading retail investment advisory firm and independent broker-dealer, today announced that Salter Financial Group has returned to LPL Financial’ s broker-dealer and corporate registered investment advisor platforms. Salter Financial Group reported having served approximately $100 million of client brokerage and advisory…

Rep. Maxine Waters is pushing an amendment to block funding that the Securities and Exchange Commission needs to implement its newly enacted Regulation Best Interest rule. The House Rules Committee last night accepted the amendment for House floor consideration.

The Wells Fargo/ Gallup Investor and Retirement Optimism Index dropped to 85 for second quarter 2019, down 18 points from 103 a year ago. Investors are less optimistic than a year ago about maintaining their household income and reaching their 12- month and five-year investing goals.

While Americans, as a whole, have seen their ability to cover monthly expenses and bills improve since 2009, the 2018 data show that younger Americans, those without a college degree, African-Americans and those with lower incomes are struggling financially, calling into question the improved economy’s ability to work as needed for all.

Last week, the NBA All-Star announced his retirement from an 18- year career spent mostly at the San Antonio Spurs, where, as point guard, he drove the team to four championships. This week, he joined the Minneapolis- based financial planning firm NorthRock Partners as president of its sports, artists and entertainment division.

According to the study, roughly, 85 million Americans use social media to learn more about financial advisors. Six in 10 of these consumers say they use social media sites to find information on financial services products and services or were looking for reviews on financial professionals.

A new report find that retail investors are poised to allocate a larger portion of their assets to impact investments, if both products and offerings, and sales and advisory channels can evolve to accommodate their needs. More than half (55%) also expect to increase their impact investments over the next two years

You’re busy taking care of your clients’ financial needs, but are you neglecting your own financial plan? One of the biggest challenges is managing cash flow. Most financial advisors are tied in some way to the performance of the market. Generally, as the markets drop, so does the income.

The 2019 Planning & Progress Study found that 46% of Americans expect to work past the traditional retirement age of 65. Nearly one out of five Baby Boomers (18%) and an equal percentage of Generation X (18%) expect to work even longer — past the age of 74.

Men will need assistance for an average of 2.2 years, while women will need it for 3.7 years, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration on Aging. More than one-third will spend time in a nursing home, where the median annual cost of a private room is now more than $100,000, according to insurer Genworth’s 2018 Cost of Care Survey.

The report features proprietary Chubb claims analysis and perspectives from some of the top securities lawyers in the U.S.. In 2017 and 2018, the number of securities class actions filed in federal court broke new records each year, and the volume has doubled since 2014, according to NERA Economic Consulting. “There is a growing cohort of lawyers filing…

A new survey uncovers a variety of topics, including financial habits and behaviors, and how consumers grade themselves on their knowledge of personal finance. The results show adults 18-24 rate their knowledge of personal finance much lower than adults in general, and only 1 in 10 give themselves an A.

Just one year after the Department of Labor fiduciary rule was vacated, the financial services industry is again reeling and rejoicing (depending on where you are in the industry) after the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of Regulation Best Interest and its subsequent rulings.

The three-fold rulemaking package, which debuted last April went up for a vote this morning as Chairman Jay Clayton and Commissioners Elad Roisman, Robert Jackson, Jr. and Hester Peirce gave their final thoughts on the matter before the vote.

The 10th annual Northwestern Mutual Planning and Progress study shows that Americans learned some lessons from the recession and used those lessons to work on improving their financial security – in particular, carrying less debt.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is voting tomorrow on a three-part rulemaking package containing regulation best interest.

–Focus Financial Partners Inc., a leading partnership of independent, fiduciary wealth management firms, announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement under which HORNE Wealth Advisors, LLC, a registered investment advisor with offices in Ridgeland, Mississippi and Nashville, Tennessee, will join with Focus partner firm Buckingham…

Often the best way to make some money decisions is to choose an option that’s good enough, then get on with your life. Target-date retirement funds, flat-rate cash-back credit cards and 529 college savings plans are just some of the products you can use to make a decision that starts building your assets now, rather than waiting to compare every possibility.

After a contentious comment period and a listening tour, the commissioners have set June 5 to vote on its Regulation Best Interest rule.