For many years, brokers could buy vacation homes in the Hamptons just by executing trades. But when the stock market tanked, individual investors fled, and they’ve been slow to come back. “The old model [for brokers] failed. That is, I’ll tell you what stocks to buy as they go up,” says Shaw Lively, research manager at Financial Insights, an analyst company.Today, the buzzword in the financial services game is diversification. Companies are trolling for new revenue streams by trying to become one-stop shops for all their clients’ financial needs, including tax planning, asset allocation, mortgages and insurance. And the most sought-after clients are those who think they need (and can afford) the most services. So Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, UBS and other financial services companies are all in hot pursuit of a bigger slice of the high-net-worth customer pie (Merrill applies the moniker to people with $1 million or more in assets, excluding primary residential real estate). And there are plenty of them: 2 million in the United States at the end of 2002 (a slight drop from 2001), according to the “2003 World Wealth Report,” published by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Merrill Lynch. These customers provide nearly two-thirds of the more than $1 trillion in assets that Merrill’s Global Private Client Group manages. Related content brandpost Sponsored by SAP When natural disasters strike Japan, Ōita University’s EDiSON is ready to act With the technology and assistance of SAP and Zynas Corporation, Ōita University built an emergency-response collaboration tool named EDiSON that helps the Japanese island of Kyushu detect and mitigate natural disasters. By Michael Kure, SAP Contributor Dec 07, 2023 5 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by BMC BMC on BMC: How the company enables IT observability with BMC Helix and AIOps The goals: transform an ocean of data and ultimately provide a stellar user experience and maximum value. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 3 mins IT Leadership brandpost Sponsored by BMC The data deluge: The need for IT Operations observability and strategies for achieving it BMC Helix brings thousands of data points together to create a holistic view of the health of a service. By Jeff Miller Dec 07, 2023 4 mins IT Leadership how-to How to create an effective business continuity plan A business continuity plan outlines procedures and instructions an organization must follow in the face of disaster, whether fire, flood, or cyberattack. Here’s how to create a plan that gives your business the best chance of surviving such an By Mary K. Pratt, Ed Tittel, Kim Lindros Dec 07, 2023 11 mins Small and Medium Business IT Skills Backup and Recovery Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe