Giving advisers a better read

If there’s one thing I know to be true about InvestmentNews, it’s this: We are not afraid to try something new.

If you look closely at our front page this week, you will see that it looks a little different. We added a news column along the left rail that serves as a table of contents for what’s inside the newspaper. Besides calling attention to important stories that appear farther back in the book, the column offers readers a succinct summary of weekly news affecting financial advisers.

To make it easier for readers to navigate that news, we are categorizing those stories into relevant sections (e.g., Retirement, Regulation, Practice, etc.).

It’s our hope that this new feature will help InvestmentNews fulfill its mandate to serve as the leading information source for financial advisers.

This, of course, is not the first time we have tinkered with Page 1 — nor will it be the last.

Over the past 18 months we have sought to improve the look and feel of Page 1 by using bigger, and more compelling, photographs and illustrations. That art work often accompanies stories that go beyond the news to provide readers with a deeper exploration of the trends and personalities that shape the business of providing financial advice.

Darla Mercado’s story on lawyer Jerome Schlichter, who has made it his personal mission to stop companies from charging excessive fees in their 401(k)s and from favoring investment options that are better for them than for plan participants, is a good example of the kind of in-depth feature you can now expect to find on Page 1. In reporting that story, Ms. Mercado flew to St. Louis (in the middle of a snowstorm) to get some face time with Mr. Schlichter.

Read the story. I think you will see it was worth the trip.