Practice management

Financial services firms, advisers and brokers can get themselves caught in their own tracks on social media, worrying excessively about Securities and Exchange Commission rules on disclosures, marketing and communication, as well as Financial Industry Regulatory Authority guidelines.

Perhaps the most important and critical thing Mark Lacher has learned is that implementation is not only critical, it may be more important than setting strategy. He shares two suggestions to help you implement so you can run a more successful business.

Tough times have employees placing greater reliance on benefits for financial security, as employers affirm their commitment to sponsoring those benefits albeit with increased cost sharing.

Although hundreds of financial advisers, consultants, fiduciaries, IRA experts and record keepers gathered in the ‘Big Easy,’ event goers can agree that fee disclosures and regulations are anything but simple when it comes to the retirement industry.

Most advisers and their clients don’t see eye to eye on measuring portfolio performance, according to global asset manager Russell Investments’ latest quarterly survey of U.S. financial advisers.

The U.S. Supreme Court said on Friday it will release audio recordings and transcripts of oral arguments in the health care challenge immediately after the March 26-28 sessions, responding to what it called "extraordinary public interest."

Americans often view saving for retirement as a choice between contributing to a workplace 401(k) plan or funding an IRA, even though the majority of people are allowed to contribute to both at the same time. A new report by Fidelity Investments indicates that as companies cut down on pension plans, more workers are contributing to both Individual Retirement Accounts and 401(k) plans. Those who contribute to both end up saving much more overall, the study showed. In addition, workers are more likely to save for retirement if they seek financial advice.

In a new report, titled “Opportunities in Reaching the Middle Market with Life Insurance,” Conning estimates the middle market life insurance protection gap to be $10.2 trillion — a 56% increase when compared to the firm’s last study of the middle market in 2006. The total protection gap across all income brackets has more than doubled.

A large annual survey of consumer satisfaction with health plans finds 41% of members of employer-sponsored insurance plans would shop for coverage through a private health insurance exchange if their employer provided vouchers for purchasing insurance independently.

About 44% of employers believe they will provide employee health benefits through a corporate exchange in the next three to five years, according to a new study.

The Obama administration on Monday released broad new operating rules for state-run health insurance exchanges, which form a key part of the 2010 federal health care reform law that will face landmark Supreme Court hearings in just two weeks.

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors Monday praised the Department of Health and Human Services for acknowledging in its final rule “the significant role agents will play in the state health care exchanges.”

Be armed and ready to make appointments with all of your existing architectural clients with these two ideas. Andrew Torelli discusses how to expand your target markets by leveraging your existing market relationships in today’s BeAdvised.

What is your firm doing to proactively cultivate centers of influence and gain new business in the process? Florida broker Beverly Beattie shares one easy to follow idea you can incorporate into your firm’s business development strategy today.

Fortune Magazine’s list of the 50 Most Admired Companies only includes one insurer, Berkshire Hathaway, at No. 7. However, the news outlet ranked insurers separately in their own categories: “Property and Casualty,” “Life and Health” and “Health Care: Insurance and Managed Care.”

The odds of being single at some point during retirement are high and present unique challenges for both “ever single” retirees who never married and for those who become “suddenly single” in retirement due to divorce or death of a spouse. In fact, 43% of Americans age 65 and older are single due to divorce, having never married, or the death of a partner.

A change in ranks within the C-suite can often make or break business and personal relationships. In today's BeAdvised, a second-generation executive at an Atlanta brokerage shares first-hand tips to help any company build the next generation of leaders.

Every election year brings a certain degree of uncertainty to the financial markets, making life a bit more complicated for financial advisers and clients trying to anticipate how whatever happens in November will impact publicly traded companies, the tax code, Social Security and the full gamut of investment products going forward.

In a difficult economy, you have to be even more adept at creating value for your clients and their employee population. You need to go beyond being perceived as the point of access to benefits product information and services, and transcend your client's expectations. But that's no small task. How can you do that in these economic conditions when most are being forced to do more with less? Well, the best way we know is to create a multi-year benefits strategic plan. And now is the perfect time of year to initiate such discussions with your existing clients and prospects as well. It is a powerful planning process that will enable you to guide your client's benefits planning for the future.

Are you still using just a hammer in your benefits practice? Too many benefit brokers have been showing up at the jobsite equipped only with the hammer of health insurance, limiting their ability both to add new revenue and to be consultative and solve other HR problems.