Taxing, Changing Times for Advisors

Contributor Tim Welsh, who attended the T3 Advisor Conference in early February in Florida, shares his firsthand look at how advisors can tailor the latest tech tools and model marketplaces to suit their practices and what this trend means for the wirehouse firms (in "The Tip of the Spear"). The industry veteran argues that technology leadership "has rapidly moved to independent advisors as their growth and success are attracting investment from both incumbent firms and newcomer disruptors."

Meanwhile on Capitol Hill, industry officials expect both a new Labor Department fiduciary proposal and one from the SEC this fall, Washington Bureau Chief Melanie Waddell explains in Washington Watch. On other regulatory fronts, cryptocurrencies, senior investor protections, fee disclosure, digital advice, cybersecurity, anti-money laundering and other regulatory priorities are becoming clearer, she writes in the Playing Field.

For readers interested in cybersecurity issues, we encourage you to read about what cyberfelons are up to (at ThinkAdvisor.com) and to take our online authentication survey, being conducted in partnership with research firm Dalbar: www.research.net/r/DalbarAdvisorStudy. We appreciate your input!

Finally, I'd like to recognize the 50-plus financial planning students I met at TD Ameritrade LINC a few weeks ago. They were exceedingly kind when I spoke with them at several pre-conference sessions and are eager to learn as much as possible about the work financial advisors are doing today and what that work will look like in the coming decades. I believe I speak for many of the 3,500 or so guests at this national event when I say that after spending time with the young adults, the future seems very bright indeed.