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Tough times -- including a sharp drop in Wall Street profits and the possibility of a fourth straight year of market declines -- call for tough actions. So it's no [...]

The way securities firms talk about retail broker teams, one might assume there are scores of Street-type Joe Torres out in the field assembling and coaching brokers on the fine [...]

Are you ready to help your clients navigate the fixed-income landscape? If you're a veteran, the terrain is familiar. But a whole generation of reps has come up at a [...]

These are tough times for brokers. Rookies are struggling to make their draws. Brokers with three or four years of experience, who are now past their salaried period, are barely [...]

A broker who recently transferred from a Midwest regional firm to UBS PaineWebber is delighted by a product he can now offer clients: jumbo loans of at least $500,000 at [...]

Hundreds - and perhaps thousands - of brokers are facing enormous tax bills this years as a result of hefty upfront recruiting bonuses they received in the waning days of [...]

Remember television's Six Million Dollar Man? Even if the bionic wizardry of this fictional character was slightly over the top, it probably changed our perception of the disabled. We've come [...]

As a Raymond James broker at tiny Ozaukee Bank in Cedarburg, Wis., Tom Gerdes has more than 100 clients who pay him asset-based fees and commissions. Only one, a Milwaukee-based [...]

If 2001 didn't offer brokers enough in the way of challenges, maneuvering between the carrot of higher payouts on fee-based business and the stick of lower -- or no -- [...]

You may not think you have much in common with a tube of toothpaste or a car, but you do. You are every bit as much of a brand as [...]

Anybody feel like partying? Lots of brokerage executives are asking themselves that question. Should firms continue to reward successful producers with a traditional luxury trip, or should trips be postponed [...]

Companies are taking advantage of Black culture to market their products. Companies engaged in fashion to other consumer products are cashing in by featuring blacks in their marketing campaigns.

At a glittering luncheon in the nation's capital last year, a veteran warrior rallied a roomful of Black America's brightest (and richest) young executives. Andrew Young was a U.S. ambassador, [...]

A dozen dancers prance on the gleaming wooden stage, while a live orchestra slams a beat. But it's Vanessa Williams who is captivating the two thousand watchers who pack the [...]

If you plan to plunge into a job at any of the nation's 12,000 banks or 2300 thrift institutions, pay keen attention to Washington's vigorous watchdogging over banking. The Clinton [...]

The late Reginald Lewis was the greatest African-American corporate takeover artist in history. In 1987, he bought the food company he renamed TLC Beatrice International (still the world's largest Black-owned [...]

African-Americans are encouraged to aim for journalism careers in management rather than in high-profile frontline positions. Careers as producers in radio or television or as editors are to be preferred over having bylines or anchoring news programs. Preparation for journalism careers is variable, and a formal journalism degree is not necessary. Practical experience is more valued than theoretical knowledge.

Thanks to a tax law that went into effect in January, you can now offer your self-employed clients a way to set aside as much as $40,000 in pre-tax income [...]

The dog days of summer have come early to broker recruiting this year. Recruiters and branch managers say broker transfers are down to a tiny fraction of last year's level, [...]

With cleanup of the World Trade Center site well under way, several brokerages with operations in Lower Manhattan have moved those offices to new locations, some of which may become [...]

Got the urge to work with a diversified financial group? Then take finance courses in college, of course, but also throw in . . . computer science. Want to make [...]

When Hugh Bailey was a student at North Carolina A&T State University seven years ago, he was shocked that students and faculty weren't interested in the local African-American community. That [...]

The gun pointing at young Martin King's heart might have made punks of other college students, might have induced some to beg for their lives, or turn to run. 'I'll [...]

Len A. Reinhart President, Lockwood FinancialIn March, the 52-year-old innovator who helped create turnkey asset management programs will retire. In 1995 he founded Lockwood Financialand initiated an automated platform for [...]

If you think that most early-achieving brokers simply fall heir to their businesses, think again. Of this year's crop of 40 top advisors under the age of 40-our second annual [...]

Brokers at Merrill Lynch and Citigroup's Smith Barney are optimistic about the long-term prospects for their firms after their chief executives resigned several weeks ago. E. Stanley O'Neal and Charles [...]

Smith Barney made amends with brokers for issuing two disastrous compensation plans this year by releasing details of a generous, simple scheme for 2008. As of January, 80% of reps [...]

The year's biggest brokerage merger-between Wachovia Securities and A.G. Edwards & Sons-reaches an important milestone this month. On Nov. 7, Wachovia will pay the first installment of retention bonuses to [...]

When the second-largest broker-dealer in the country wants to be known as a regional, then being a regional firm may not be such a bad thing after all. In the [...]

In August, Morgan Stanley finally introduced its long-awaited version of an investment advisory account that gives clients the option of making their own investment choices. Morgan is the last of [...]

FOLLOWING HEATED DEBATE and a rash of broker defections, Smith Barney-for the third time in less than a year-is set to change its broker compensation plan. The announcement, which in [...]

ELIZABETH A. PASCIUCCO Chief Marketing Officer of the Global Wealth Management Group at Morgan Stanley The 45-year-old executive-who recently took charge of marketing at the nation's fourth-largest wirehouse-tells Senior Editor [...]

With mammoth wirehouse branches and regional outlets scattered all over the country, it's easy to overlook the smaller shops that many advisors say are just as good-if not better-than the [...]

DESPITE THE RECENT OUSTER OF the chief executive officer at UBS AG, industry experts say the company isn't likely in the short term to shed its U.S. private client group, [...]

Raymond James' INDEPENDENT-contracting division has launched what appears to be the first company-funded, deferred-compensation package for independent reps. The bonus-expected to go live in November-will pay them 1% to 10% [...]

Three years ago, independent broker Ken Buzek saw his business at a standstill. His commission-based book was 'kind of stuck' and generating very little growth. Then in 2005, Ken, along [...]

Wachovia-whose captive brokerage is 8,100 advisors strong-will absorb another 6,600 reps from A.G. Edwards after paying a reported $6.8 billion in cash and stock. With that purchase, Wachovia will jump [...]

Well, it was nice while IT LASTED. Just in time for summer, Merrill Lynch has killed a lavish perk that had allowed employees to potentially take up to 40 sick [...]

In an effort to remain competitive in the recruiting arena, Merrill Lynch will now be offering packages to brokers from other firms that can amount to as much as 200% [...]