Does Morgan Stanley owe millions to ex-employees? Plus, bonds in the spotlight; a new RIA with a co-op model; and a spot-bitcoin ETF guide
Financial Planning
The leading resource of news, data and analysis for the wealth management industry.
REGULATION AND COMPLIANCE: Morgan Stanley might call some of the money that wealth managers earn during their time at the firm "deferred compensation" and say it's not owed to employees who leave.
But a group of ex-Morgan Stanley employees are arguing that they should be paid the money nonetheless, and are now pressing their claims in a class-action suit in federal court in New York. Immediately at stake in the dispute is $4 million the dozen or so ex-employees say they're entitled to despite their decision to leave Morgan Stanley and take up employment elsewhere. But the bigger question is whether deferred compensation plans fall under the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
INVESTMENT STRATEGIES: As 2024 begins, financial experts are getting unusually excited about the most famously "boring" investment: bonds.
"We've never been so optimistic about bonds," said Gene Goldman, CFA , chief investment officer at Cetera Investment Management in Los Angeles. "We're bullish on bonds. We love bonds right now."
What's behind all this optimism? After all, the bond market just finished a historically terrible year.
Recommended by LinkedIn
RIAs: Certified financial planners Katrina Soelter, CFP® and Leighann Miko, CFP® didn't see the RIA world doing enough to support advisors who sought a different kind of independence. Independence, to them, means not only being an independent contractor for tax purposes, but also having the freedom to focus on something other than the numbers that tend to traditionally signify advisors' success: assets under management, scale and revenue.
But, in a male-dominated industry where size is often what matters, the two women didn't see something out there that fit this vision. So they decided to create an offering of their own.
BITCOIN: This week, the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the first spot-bitcoin ETFs. That may give those who have been watching from the sidelines or only dipping their toes in the crypto pool the legitimacy they need to more fully test the waters. Here’s what to know.
Get the latest in wealth management and financial planning news here.