When Bill Martin recently donned a pair of virtual reality goggles at Fidelity Investments’ client advisory council meeting in Boston, he was skeptical about whether the technology would be of any use for financial advisors.  But after a tour through the virtual world, Martin, chief investment officer at Wichita, Kansas-based INTRUST Bank, returned like Neo in "The Matrix," ready to see how deep the rabbit ...

With the fiduciary rule in question, a prominent industry association is calling on the SEC to issue guidance on the use of the term "advisor" when offering advice to retail investors.  The CFA Institute has drafted a letter asking the SEC to take steps–ahead of the full regulatory initiative it is contemplating–to clarify the way financial pros describe themselves and their services. To read the full artic ...

There are many reasons why clients need solid financial advice in these turbulent times.  This article lays out four of them, starting with the observation that nobody—or almost nobody—can time the markets.  Bob Clark, Editor-at-Large for Investment Advisor Magazine, explains the importance of speaking to the client’s understanding and the importance of a financial advisor’s role.   To find out more on ...

Increased Transparency, More Automation, and More Access to Capital   Rod Ebrahimi, a columnist for the Entrepreneurs section of Forbes, writes that "Thousands of miles away from Wall Street, some David-sized companies in Silicon Valley are cultivating new trends that will change people’s relationship with money." ...