News

Surprise Audit Provision Dropped From New SEC Custody Regulations

Posted on December 17, 2009 by in Compliance

secAbout six months ago in response to the uproar over the Bernie Madoff fraud, the SEC proposed updates to the custody rule that would require RIAs who debit fees from client accounts to be subject to surprise audits.

Needless to say, this proposal did not go over well, especially when costs for surprise audits were estimated to be north of $8,000.

See previous posts on FPPad: Proposed SEC Custody Rules Could Cost Advisers Extra $8,100 and SEC Surprise Audit Proposal Likely to be Dropped According to FPA.

Yesterday the SEC passed new custody regulations, and the surprise audit provision for RIAs who only debit fees was dropped. In addition, the SEC published a custody matrix, if you will, defining the different adviser arrangements along with their respective duties and responsibilities.

The folks over at RIABiz posted more about the custody provisions, plus they included the custody matrix chart for reference.

Click here to view the custody matrix on the RIABiz website.

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Proposed IRS Regulations on Cost Basis Reporting Open for Comments

Posted on December 16, 2009 by in Compliance

Back in October 2008 I wrote about a passage in the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act signed into law that requires cost basis reporting by securities brokers (see the original FPPad post).

Today I learned from this AICPA Journal of Accountancy tweet that the IRS has posted proposed regulations titled “Basis Reporting by Securities Brokers and Basis Determination for Stock” available for viewing on the Federal Register website.

Click here to view the PDF in all its 141 pages of glory.

I don’t quite have the time to browse the proposal right now, but thankfully the folks over at the AICPA JofA just posted a good summary of the proposal.

Click here to read the AICPA’s JofA Regulations Proposed on Basis Reporting by Brokers.

Update 12/21/2009: Also read this article Brokerages face 2011 start date for reporting cost-basis info from InvestmentNews.

However, there’s no real insight as to what exactly the proposal means for independent financial advisers. Hint: It probably doesn’t change much of anything, as custodians are likely to bear the brunt of the regulatory changes. If anything, that means custodial fees likely will go up.

The comment period for this proposal is open until February 8, 2010 and a public hearing is scheduled for February 17, 2010. That will be a barn-burner of a hearing!

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Your Next New Hire: By Providence or Planning?

Posted on December 16, 2009 by in Practice Management

Looking ahead to 2010, I’m seeing more and more articles indicating that wealth management and financial planning firms plan to hire staff in the next 12 months (see InvestmentNews and Investment Advisor for examples).

But when the time arrives to hire for your firm, will you rely on providence or planning to find the right employee?

When I say rely on providence, I’m referring to firms that cast a wide net by posting want ads across the Internet and wade through the deluge of résumés that pour in. Yes, posting a job description on industry related sites is more likely to generate qualified candidates, but  firms are hoping that ideal candidates are constantly watching the job postings for new positions. Hence the reference to providence.

So instead of relying on chance to find the right employee, advisors should turn to organizations that specialize in matching talented individuals with open positions.

Read More…

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Efficient Internet Reading: Get More Content, Get Less Junk

Posted on December 12, 2009 by in Efficiency, Software

August 22, 2017 update: Readability is no longer active; perhaps try using Mercury Reader for Chrome.

Thanks to Andrew Tobias for pointing me towards a bookmarklet called Readability (had I kept up on my Lifehacker RSS reading, I would have seen Readability back in March).

I could spend a few paragraphs explaining how to install the bookmarklet and how it makes reading stuff on the Internet easier, but allow me to let the pictures tell the story.

So, out of the two identical articles below, which one do you want to read?

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Forbes Advisor iConference Offers Compelling Look Into Future of Content Delivery

Posted on December 11, 2009 by in Professional Development, Technology

Update 12/22/2009: I uploaded a PDF of tweets containing the #FAiC09 hashtag, as they’re no longer available on the Twitter search site. Paragraphs below were updated.

Update 12/21/2009: Here’s an article from Davis Janowski at InvestmentNews discussing online conferences; No fuss, no muss, but forget about freebies. He highlights the Forbes iConference series among other events.

I attended the Forbes Advisor iConference Building a Rebound-Ready Game Plan on Wednesday of this week. I believe this is the second 100% web-based conference put on by Forbes. Note that InvestmentNews also recently held a 100% online event covering ETFs, but I don’t currently manage investments, so I skipped the event.

If you missed the event, replays are available for 90 days after the iConference. This FPPad post has details on how FPA members can attend for free.

Here’s my feedback on the Forbes event.

Format

Attending the iConference was easy; fire up an approved web browser (Internet Explorer 6 or higher or Firefox versions prior to 3.5), log in, and the iConference was underway. There were three main areas of the iConference:

  • Presentation Area
  • Networking Lounge
  • Exhibit Hall

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Harsh Reviews for One Popular Paperless Office Solution

Posted on December 7, 2009 by in Software

I try my best to keep up to date on the popular paperless office solutions on the market, particularly on those that are popular in the independent financial services industry. Every once in a while I run across reviews of solutions that are polar opposites of one another.

Here’s one recent example.

December’s Financial Advisor magazine features a write-up of PaperPort Professional v12.0, reviewed by Joel Bruckenstein. In the review he says:

…its ease of use, low cost and robust features make it an attractive option for smaller advisory firms with limited technology and training budgets.

and…

For the price, PaperPort provides a great deal of functionality.

Sounds fairly promising. For $199, advisers can get an entry-level document management and scanning solution that provides some of the basic functionality needed to implement a paperless office. What’s not to like?

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Free Attendance to Forbes Advisor iConference for FPA Members

Posted on December 3, 2009 by in Professional Development, Technology

I had no idea that Forbes puts on a totally web-based event they call the Advisor iConference. Forbes held an iConference in June titled Building Wealth With Innovative Ideas and Advice and the content is now available on-demand (click the link to register).

On December 9th, another iConference is being offered titled Building A Rebound-Ready Game Plan.

How did I find out about this resource? By chance, I was navigating the FPA national website looking for information related to my position as the incoming Technology Director for the FPA DFW chapter. Set over in the FPA News Brief section is a single-line link titled FPA President Part of Forbes.com Regulatory Webinar. I clicked the link and learned of the iConference.

Registration to the iConference is $75, but FPA members can attend the iConference for FREE. Here’s how.

Read More…

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We’re Featured in the Top 10 Twitter Feeds for Career-Minded Advisers

Posted on December 2, 2009 by in Professional Development, Technology

This is my own blog, so every once in a while I get to do some shameless self-promotion.

Today, my Twitter feed @BillWinterberg is featured in FINS from The Wall Street Journal as one of the top 10 Twitter feeds for career-minded advisers to follow.

Here’s a quick snapshot of my listing (click the snapshot for the full article):

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Get the Financial Planning 2009 Software Survey

Posted on November 24, 2009 by in Technology

It’s that time of year again when Financial Planning magazine publishes its annual survey of technology in use by financial planners and advisers. This is the third year for the survey, and again Joel P. Bruckenstein tallied up the responses (from over 1,500 individuals!) and reviewed the results.

Click here to view Bruckenstein’s review of Financial Planning’s 2009 Software Survey.

Just as I did last year, I’m posting my 30-second summary of the review. I’m listing each comment along side those of 2008 for easy comparison. Read More…

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