The 2013 SMA Managers of the Year; 2013 BD Presidents’ Poll and Reference Guide: June Investment Advisor—Slideshow

For the 2013 SMA Managers of the Year, uncertainty is just part of doing business, and it hasn’t stopped them from outperforming their peers. Investment Advisor teamed up with Envestnet | Prima once again to identify the best managers in four categories. This year, though, we also named a Best Overall Manager of the Year.

We also share observations from the final workshop in Commonwealth Financial’s yearlong Power in Practice coaching program. The program shows, among other things, that the experiences of your peers are a valuable way to learn.

We also present the 2013 Broker-Dealer Presidents’ Poll and Reference Guide. The presidents at major broker-dealers gave us their opinion on what the biggest short- and long-term challenges were for them and for their individual reps.

Consistently the Best

It’s an increasingly bifurcated, asymmetrical market, marked by record highs on the Dow and S&P 500 and record low interest rates; an emerging energy boom and stubbornly high unemployment; domestic markets up one minute and emerging markets the next; and on and on it goes.

Yet somehow our 2013 SMA Managers of the Year continue to outperform. How it is done? Editor-in-Chief John Sullivan talks to the winners to find out.

Read the full article.

Power in Practice: Wrapping Up

Put everything in writing. Involve your staff more in the process. Identify your target market. Trust your instincts. Hire quickly. Trust your friends. Be yourself. You don’t have to have a perfect plan.

The pithy prescriptions above for a successful advisory practice came from participants in a Dec. 3–4 workshop that wrapped up Power in Practice, Commonwealth Financial’s yearlong coaching program for some of the independent broker-dealer’s advisors.