Advisors archive
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40 stories
- Practice management
Succession planning drops as NextGen readiness lags
DeVoe & Company's 2024 talent report ties the succession decline to a next-generation bench under pressure.
- Products & portfolios
Index funds reach 42% of average advisor portfolio, Fidelity says
The second-quarter Portfolio Insights report shows a twelve-point jump in index fund allocations and ETF expense ratios falling to 43 basis points.
- Tax & estate planning
Ed Slott: 60-day Roth conversion bypasses one-rollover rule
A second IRA distribution can be converted to a Roth instead of rolled back, as long as the receiving custodian's Form 5498 codes it as a conversion.
- Tax & estate planning
Look-through trust rules set the payout clock for inherited IRAs
The IRS's look-through test decides whether an inherited IRA in a trust gets 10 years or five, and a single non-person beneficiary can scuttle even a qualifying trust.
- Succession & selling a firm
A seller's emotions can make or break an RIA deal
DeVoe & Company and Allworth Financial examine the emotional barriers to selling, using Marshall Financial Group's sale to Creative Planning as a case study.
- Tax & estate planning
Retirement creditor protection starts with ERISA, ends with state law
The same retirement dollar can be fully shielded from one creditor and exposed to another, depending on the plan and the state.
- Tax & estate planning
A spouse's 401(k) can quietly end the IRA deduction
In 2026, the traditional IRA deduction for an uncovered spouse phases out between $242,000 and $252,000 of modified adjusted gross income. Box 13 on the W-2 decides who qualifies.
- Tax & estate planning
Inherited Roth IRAs face the same 10-year clock
The SECURE Act deadline applies to Roth accounts, and trusts do not make the transfer simpler.
- Tax & estate planning
Kiddie tax on Trump accounts opens at 18; plan the window
Taxable Trump account withdrawals and conversions can trigger the kiddie tax from age 18, so advisors should start modeling the exposure.
- Products & portfolios
Fidelity launches custom SMA advisor learning series
The first installment gives advisors language to explain custom SMA benefits and the risks that come with them.
- Tax & estate planning
Two five-year clocks run on every Roth conversion
Ed Slott's mailbag walks through the per-conversion penalty clock and the shared earnings clock, then applies the same distinction to Trump accounts at 18.
- Tax & estate planning
Solo 401(k) owners can't claim the still-working RMD exception
Solo 401(k) plans miss the still-working break. One beneficiary's withdrawal can settle a mother's final RMD.
- Products & portfolios
Fidelity's alts curriculum primes advisors for the private-market push
A CE-accredited program gives advisors the language to place private-market positions in client portfolios without hiding the risks.
- Practice management
Fidelity's free Portfolio Quick Check cuts the lag between data and conversation
The no-cost tool turns portfolio data into a client-ready report, and gives advisors back the time for the conversation that follows.
- Products & portfolios
Fidelity's allocation team calls the Q2 rebound a caution on valuations
The recovery broadened and AI capital spending powered earnings, but the team says historically high prices leave little room for error.
- Practice management
Fidelity's 69% wealth figure argues for two service tracks
Fidelity's 2026 outlook urges balance-sheet segmentation and argues AI's true payoff is time for the planning conversations high-net-worth clients value most.
- Products & portfolios
Fidelity's sector outlook favors three groups, flags energy valuations
The quarterly update gives advisors a defensible sector list and a warning on energy, then leaves the arithmetic to them.
- Products & portfolios
Hightower: AI capex is structural
Hightower's 2026 outlook argues the AI buildout is real, funded, and still early — and hands advisors the numbers to make the case to clients.
- Practice management
Heavy AI users report gains that lighter users are missing
Fieldguide's survey of 400 professionals quantifies the AI adoption gap. Cerulli's data shows technology now decides where advisers move.
- Products & portfolios
LPL publishes a money market fund guide for the client cash question
The guide's risk disclosures make it a useful handout for the client cash question.
- Products & portfolios
Fidelity argues fund picking is a skill, not a cost center
Fidelity's manager research unit says disciplined fund selection adds value. Its new paper gives no numbers to back it up.
- Products & portfolios
LPL's CD guide turns cash into a deliberate allocation
A fixed-rate, fixed-term primer that gives advisors client-ready language for CDs as a portfolio position.
- Recruiting & transitions
Cetera's fifth channel puts every independence option under one roof
Jen Hanau will lead the fifth channel, covering everything from W-2 employment to full RIA ownership. Cetera hasn't published the economics.
- Products & portfolios
Morningstar's CRSP rebrand leaves advisors with a naming cleanup
Firms with CRSP-labeled benchmarks now have to scrub the old name from client reports, model templates, and IPS documents.
- Tax & estate planning
Mega-IRA bill would cap retirement balances at $10 million
A Neal-Wyden proposal would cut off new IRA contributions above $10 million in combined balances and eventually force minimum distributions from the largest accounts.
- Practice management
Betterment expands Solo 401(k) to advisor networks HUB and Osaic
A paperless, no-setup-fee Solo 401(k) brings the growing self-employed market into advisor workflows without the administrative drag.
- Recruiting & transitions
Cetera unites Avantax, TRPG under one $19B RIA
Cetera folds Avantax Planning Partners and The Retirement Planning Group into one RIA, promising advisors they won't have to choose between today and the future.
- The Advisor's Note
AARP survey gives advisors an opening on Social Security
Most clients under 50 misunderstand survivor and disability benefits. The survey numbers give advisors a place to start.
- Products & portfolios
Price the hidden costs of a zero-fee IRA before the rollover
PensionBee's new analysis turns a $107,000 balance into a due-diligence checklist.
- Practice management
A $4.1 million Trump Account projection gives advisors a birth-date opening
A Guardian report and a Bquest critique push the planning conversation from childhood savings into the spending years.
- Tax & estate planning
Treasury plan could speed rollovers and reduce paper checks
A voluntary electronic process under SECURE 2.0 would move retirement money straight to the receiving plan.
- Tax & estate planning
Postponed retirement changes the income plan and the family timeline
Advisors should price the extra working year as a chance to fix cash flow, cut sequence risk, and reset next-generation expectations.
- Practice management
SEI adds Zocks' AI assistant to its advisor services lineup
The partnership targets the post-meeting administrative grind, and SEI's real investment is in advisor confidence.
- Succession & selling a firm
Edelman hires dealmaker to buy and recruit retirement practices
Edelman's new retirement-plan chief can buy your firm, hire your team, or grow around you — a trio of options for practice owners.
- Products & portfolios
Vanguard's customizable models test the low-cost promise
Advisors get a way to tailor models for client-specific constraints. The low-cost structure holds only if the customization stays bounded.
- Products & portfolios
Cerulli sees advisers' private-market assets nearly doubling
A projected $2 trillion increase puts interval funds, model portfolios, and fee tradeoffs at the heart of RIA allocation.
- Practice management
Self-directed investors still hire advisers, Betterment survey finds
Betterment's survey numbers turn clients' own research and AI experiments into an opening for advisers.
- The Advisor's Note
13 OECD countries tried wealth taxes. Most repealed them.
The Tax Foundation's scorecard gives advisors a concrete baseline for a familiar client question.
- Tax & estate planning
Prop 40's wealth tax has a property-tax problem
The Tax Foundation's constitutional analysis gives advisors a specific legal risk to discuss with clients before the November vote.
- Practice management
MissionSquare's wealth push hands public-plan advisors a rollover rival
The plan provider behind $73.6 billion in public-sector assets is adding brokerage and robo accounts, competing for rollovers and household money.