By Maribeth KuzmeskiAre you using video to connect with prospects, clients, referrals and potential alliances? Did you know that, according to Forrester Research, a website with a video is 53 times more likely to come up on the first page of results on Google than the exact same page without video?... READ MORE

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal that would have revived a lawsuit against a major 401(k) insurance record keeper alleging excessive fees in annuity contracts. The Court refused to hear the appeal without comment. An adverse ruling in the case would have cast a pall over 401(k... READ MORE

With more DC assets going into stable value funds, the question is whether anyone can really determine what the fees are and whether these types of investments can comply with the new DOL fee disclosure rules. For all but the larger plans, it can be hard to determine what the fees are; and without... READ MORE

The 2012 DCIO Provider List (see below) includes the 41 firms actively selling to plan advisors. To be on the list, providers must have dedicated sales people calling on advisors in the DC market and must available on a majority of the platforms of national record keepers. Twelve of these 41 firms... READ MORE

3Ethos’ Don Trone, founder of fi360, and Warren Cormier of Boston Research Group, in cooperation with Financial Advisor magazine, have completed the first edition of an annual study intended to benchmark best practices and ultimately measure the rate of adoption and the success of advisors who have... READ MORE

According to a study by The American College, 40% of small business owners have no retirement savings or pension plan in place — even though many are over 50. Furthermore, the study found that three-fourths of those owners have no written plan for funding their retirement. Equally surprising, many... READ MORE

What are the three most common mistakes made by investors? According to a survey of advisers by Chris Carosa, they are:• trying to beat the market;• playing it safe; and• timing the market.Investors either get too aggressive — which leads to adviser turnover — or they get too conservative,... READ MORE

We all know it’s hard to get participants to focus on their retirement plans, but apparently many of them don’t even know how much they are deferring, according to a survey by T. Rowe Price. In an interview that aired on Fox Business News, T. Rowe’s John Ritter indicated this seems to be the case.... READ MORE

The recent recession had a greater impact on adults aged 36-40 than on any other age group, according to a study by the Pew Research Center. Americans’ median wealth dropped by half during the recession, partly due to far lower home values — leaving some homeowners underwater. Fewer of these adults... READ MORE