As competition in the advisor tech space tightens, discount brokerages are expanding their platform’s offerings to appeal to a wider range of advisors.  One of the more compelling new tools is automated portfolio management software that allows advisors to create recommendations digitally without the time and expense of consulting with an expert. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: A New T ...

Sexual harassment is not primarily about attraction—it is about power.  Give more power to women, the reasoning goes, and sexual harassment gradually dies out.  Unfortunately, this logic is not borne out in the real world.  Just look at Fidelity. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: Four Ways to Help Rid Wealth Management of Sexual Harassment. ...

What it is, How it Can Help You, How to Get Started The author discusses the purpose and value of signature content. ...

My Testimonial Experience Prior to Taking the Witness Stand One unintended consequence of writing unimpeachably neutral expert reports is that often nobody wants to hear what you have left to say. After having spent nearly two years working as an expert witness, authoring an uncounted number of expert reports, subpoenas, discovery requests, deposition questions, and cross-examination questions, I had yet to ...

An Army veteran and former air traffic controller who recently was still piloting his own plane to work, Richard Salmen has become the CFP Board's new chairman.  With his choice, the board has returned a working financial planner to lead the nation's largest and most powerful planning nonprofit. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: High-Flying Army Vet Becomes CFP Board Chairman. ...

Client confidence has climbed and that rosier outlook for the economy and the stock market is propelling robust flows into equities and retirement accounts, advisors say.  Allocations to stocks strengthened sharply, according to the latest Retirement Advisor Confidence Index—Financial Planning’s monthly survey of wealth managers—and helped to support further improvement in business conditions for the invest ...

Northwestern Mutual, the parent of No. 5 IBD Northwestern Mutual Investment Services, took a majority stake in consulting firm ClientWise, the two firms announced this week.  The partnership will give Northwestern’s advisors access to coaching and digital tools while providing ClientWise with capital. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: Citing “Societal Need” for Planning, Northwestern Mut ...

The Business Valuation Bench Book by William J. Morrison and Jay E. Fishman In this article, Ed Mendlowitz provides readers a review of William J. Morrison and Jay E. Fishman’s The Business Valuation Bench Book; a book geared to judges. ...

To Market When You’re Busy Marketing requires a continuous effort and presence. In this article, the author shares a marketing alternative that appraisal practitioners should pursue when they are unable to network in person. ...

Qualified charitable distributions can offer a tax-saving opportunity, and they may be more advantageous to consider under the new tax law.  QCDs, which are available only for certain clients, count toward required minimum distributions and are excluded from income. To read the full article in InvestmentNews, click: Why Aren’t Clients Using QCDs?  Help Them! ...

After strong gains in revenue, client growth and AUM over the last six months of 2017, RIAs say they’re feeling confident about the economic outlook and plan to capitalize on recent growth, according to a survey from TD Ameritrade Institutional.  Nearly nine out of 10 RIAs surveyed netted new client assets in the past six months and almost half expect AUM to grow at an even faster rate in 2018.  They also r ...

Firms largely ban texting, even for logistical purposes, amid guidance from FINRA that all business communications must be “retained, retrievable, and supervised.”  Securities America this week became the first of the top 10 largest IBDs to announce a program allowing its advisors to text clients. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: IBDs in Slow-Footed Race to Let Advisors Text Clients. ...

Debunking Myths and Getting the Numbers Right The author discusses various methods used to trace property; techniques that are used in connection with marital dissolutions. ...

For Financial Reporting Purposes In this article, the author revisits the Market Participant Acquisition Premium (MPAP) issued by The Appraisal Foundation and reiterates the findings regarding what is a premium and what that means. ...

Want to be an industry leader in AUM growth rate?  Start consolidating—but also be prepared for hurdles ahead.  Major acquirers and a platform provider of services for a large number of advisory firms sharply outperformed the five-year compound annual AUM growth rate of 11.7% for all RIAs, according to a new report by Cerulli Associates. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: How to Achieve E ...

Help Clients Plan for the New Pass-Through Tax Deduction The new tax law includes a 20% deduction for some pass-through business income, but the specifics will vary depending on a client's circumstances.  The rules are fairly straightforward for clients with taxable income under certain thresholds: $157,500 for individuals and $315,000 for joint filers. To read the full article in ThinkAdvisor, click: The N ...

Now that the status quo of tax planning has been upended by the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, wills, trusts, and portfolios are all due for a once-over and advisors are bracing to make sense of some of the most sweeping tax changes in decades. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: Avoid “Dangerous” Planning Generalizations After New Tax Law. ...

Case Law Update February 2018 In this case law update, we review one U.S. Tax Court case that provides guidance regarding when is a bad debt business loss deductible and whether contributions of money to a business is equity or debt. In addition, we present several Delaware Court cases; one of them, a post-dissolution case where one NACVA member (and another inactive member) testified and the court addresse ...

Factors to Consider Finding the Right Mediator Mediation is a dispute resolution process that is now more popular than arbitration. Many contracts require parties use mediation, if a dispute arises; and courts have adopted the use of mediation to help reduce the number of cases headed to trial. Yet with all this popularity, there remains a significant problem with using mediation: getting the "wrong" mediat ...

Tax Overhaul Directly, Indirectly Affects Life Insurance Planning The recent overhaul of U.S. tax law will affect life insurance planning directly through changes to reporting requirements and tax-basis calculations for contracts.  Indirect effects include the likelihood that many clients will no longer need life insurance to pay the federal estate tax, for which the exemption has doubled. To read the full ...