Norb Vonnegut's Blog, page 2

Audio Recording of Elder Fraud

Wonder how elder fraud starts? Yesterday and again today, the “IRS” left a dire message on our home phone, threatening to arrest us. The caller warned : “Now, if you don’t return the call, then the only thing that I can do is…wish you good luck.”

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Should Fiduciary Advisers Swear Off Mandatory Arbitration?

The vibe is celebratory. There are coffee, doughnuts and croissants on the side table, smiles all around the conference room. On behalf of your team, which could be inside a brokerage firm or a registered investment adviser, you push paperwork across the table to open an advisory account.

Smiling, your soon-to-be client pulls out a pen and scans one of the forms. But he hesitates, and his brow furrows as he reads aloud the predispute arbitration clause: “All parties to this agreement are giving up the right to sue each other in court, including the right to trial by jury.…”

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Brokerage ‘Culture’ and the Challenges of Compliance

Compliance staffers have a tough job and risk personal liability when firms misbehave.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority recently announced that “culture, conflicts of interest and ethics” remain a priority of its brokerage examinations this year. But do you really think it is possible to enforce strength of character in an industry where the primary motivator is greed?

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An Inconvenient Observation About Fiduciaries

An obligation to put clients’ interests first doesn’t guarantee that financial advisers will do the right thing

Years ago, my team left a large brokerage firm for the greener pastures of a fee-only registered investment adviser. While soliciting a client to follow, I explained that RIAs are fiduciaries, obligated to put the interests of their clients first.

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Free on Kindle March 1-5, 2016

What happens when greed collides with political ambition?

FREE on Kindle March 1-5, 2016   (link)

In my Kindle short Grove O’Rourke discovers how far powerful adversaries will go to push their political agendas. The prize: the presidency of the United States. Wall Street is a nursery compared to the power corridors of Washington, DC.

Enjoy and share. Despite my best efforts, the price goes to $0.99 on March 6th. ~ Norb

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Your Big Signing Bonus, Your 12-Year-Old Brain

This is a WSJ column that I wrote for financial advisers. I've quoted a business psychotherapist, who makes some really interesting observations about how people make decisions under pressure. My favorite quote from him: “The 12-year-old version of you can get you into all kinds of trouble.”

Three Tempests Roiling Wealth Management

If you listen carefully, if you pause and remain very still and tilt your head at just the right angle, you might notice the calm before the storm of clients moving assets.

Top Producer Goes to Russia

This scary-looking package arrived from Russia this week. At first, I I had no idea what it was...

Thrillerfest Best First Sentence Winner

Last week I was chosen as one of the winners in Thrillerfest's annual Best First Sentence Contest. Novel to follow: "Maybe you should put on your pants before you meet my husband."

How “Robos” Can Know Their Clients

This column is about robo advisers. But let’s start with an ugly truth about the advisers, humans included, who are held by law to the fiduciary standard. They don’t always behave like fiduciaries—that is, always putting the client’s interest first—no matter what the regulations dictate. The trust department of a major bank, for example, manages […]