Most Read Advisorpedia Articles of the Week: May 15-19

Here’s a look at the Top 11 Most Viewed Articles of the Week on Advisorpedia , May 15-19, 2017

Click the headline to read the full article. Enjoy!

1. Five Key Technology Questions for Every RIA

Properly managing technology is essential to your firm’s business health and keeping your clients’ personal information safe. It can also help you to gain a competitive advantage and do better business. — Wes Stillman

2. For College-Bound Seniors, a Little Money Advice Goes a Long Way

Your clients deserve a gold star: they made it though their child’s high school years! Of course, even if they’ve saved well for the next four years, their (almost) adult kids are likely to need some financial guidance, and chances are that the very last people they want to hear it from are Mom and Dad. Laura McCarron

3. The Next Evolution: How Options Can Help With the Use of ETFs

We visited with Jeff Chang of CBOE Vest at the recent Morningstar Conference. Jeff discusses how they work with advisors that not only have ETF portfolios, but also how they provide options overlays on these ETFs to help add an additional layer of security. — Tom Lydon

4. Escape the Mega Cap ETF Trap: The Benefit of Redistributing Risk

The investment industry is abuzz with talk of strategic—or smart—beta, as investors become increasingly aware of the overexposure to risk concentrations and overvalued securities that comes as part of the package with market cap-weighted ETFs. By redistributing risk weightings and filtering stocks based on a combination of different investment factors, investors can benefit from potentially smoother returns. — J.P. Morgan Asset Management​​​​​​​

5. Segmenting the Millennial Market Is Key for Advisor Opportunity

If you’re serious about understanding or serving millennials, it’s critical that you have the ability to filter this group to identify the ones who are actually good prospective clients. I would (obviously) advocate that financial advisors pay closer attention to Gen Y; but candidly, there will be many millennials who aren’t worth the time or effort. — Missy Pohlig

6. What Are You Doing to Be Great?

Great athletes and great advisors don’t blame anyone else for their mistakes because they know they are in control of their own time and actions. What are you doing to be great? — Paul Kingsman

7. Does DOL Fiduciary Rule Have Staying Power? Are You Prepared For June 9th?

While there still may be additional attempts to derail the Fiduciary Rule, preparing for the June 9th effective date would be prudent. — Kathleen McBride​​​​​​​

8. Reality Check: 24 Stock Market Facts You Need to Know

The U.S. stock market has seen a pretty good run up over the last several months. The jobs reports have been favorable and your 401(k) statement probably looks quite attractive. Smiles abound and life is good—and you’ve likely stopped avoiding the mail-man’s delivery of your monthly investment statement. In fact, you open the envelop with a high degree of confidence. — Michael Kay

9. The Pros and Cons of Mergers and Acquisitions as Part of Your Growth Strategy

Mergers and acquisitions have become a popular business strategy for companies looking to expand into new markets or territories, gain a competitive edge, or acquire new technologies and skill sets. — Lee Frederiksen​​​​​​​

10. Don't MAKE the List ... DO the List

There is something gratifying about jotting down all the things you need to do. It quenches one’s thirst for being organized and for wanting some control over one’s life generally complicated by too many things to do with insufficient time and financial resources to do them. — Roy Osing

11. President Trump's Plans to Replace Dodd-Frank

I see that Donald Trump is thinking about bringing back Glass-Steagall style laws to the US banks. This would force the banks to separate and break up their operations between their investment bank and the retail and commercial bank structures. It intrigues me that this is being considered 18 years after the law was repealed, but why was it repealed in the first place? — Chris Skinner