4 Surprising Ways to Grow Your Practice; Exclusive Cerulli Retirement Income Survey: November Investment Advisor—Slideshow

Joe Barrato is frustrated with the use (or rather, lack) of alternative investments and hedging strategies in the mutual fund and ETF space.

"If you look back at alternative and tactical assets 10 years ago in the mutual fund and ETF industry, less than 1% was allocated to those strategies," he tells Editor in Chief John Sullivan. "Fast-forward to today and you're at less than 5%."

Sure, investment advisory firms have made use of the strategies for quite a while, but there's a void in the fund space still waiting to be filled, and Barrato's made it his mission to fill it.

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Pull the Trigger

Several direct and indirect triggers affect GDP, but consumers are the hand holding the gun. To combat our weakened economy, the Fed has been highly accommodative, AdvisorOne blogger and regular IA contributor Mike Patton writes. The problem, says advisor Patton, is that consumers are not taking the bait to any large degree. In fact, much of this monetary explosion is sitting at various Federal Reserve banks and commercial banks.

Even though the cost of borrowing is at historic lows, lending activity is weak. Individual loans at commercial banks are down from their April 2010 peak and real estate loans have been trending downward since May 2009. One bright spot may be found in the level of refinancing activity. As consumers trade in their higher-interest loans for a new lower-interest model, positive cash flow results, which may encourage additional spending.

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The 2011 IA/Cerulli Retirement Income Study

This is it—the year baby boomers officially hit their "traditional" retirement age. They're the first generation to fully embrace the switch from defined-benefit to defined-contribution plans and all that it entails. Throw a possible double-dip recession and European implosion into the mix, and your challenge (and opportunity) is clear.

Leading Boston-based research firm Cerulli Associates has put its advisor survey, administered annually to financial advisors across the United States, into circulation for more than a decade. This year's focus is specifically on retirement income and how advisors are addressing this increasingly pressing need on behalf of their clients.

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Breakaway 401(k)s

Next spring, 72 million Americans will open their quarterly 401(k) statements and, for the first time, they will see the true cost of their retirement investments spelled out in new fee disclosures, Tom Gonella, senior vice president of corporate development for Lincoln Trust, writes. The sound of all those envelopes being torn open—and the collective gasps, screams and confusion likely to ensue—will echo throughout the financial services industry.

It is fair to say that this national case of sticker shock will fundamentally alter the $3-trillion 401(k) industry, putting vast amounts of retirement plan assets in motion and providing fee-based investment advisors with significant new opportunities and challenges.

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Your Best Investment Ever?

As adults, we feel best about ourselves when we grow, change and become more whole over the course of our lifetime. It makes sense to hire someone—a coach—whose support and insight can help make this journey more successful and less lonely.

If you've never worked with a professional coach, you're bound to have questions: What could a coach do for me? What kinds are there? How much does it cost? To help more advisors find the best kind of support for themselves and their clients, Olivia Mellan explores some of the ins and outs of this burgeoning industry.

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