It's been an extraordinary year—challenging and fractious, devastating for some and profitable for others.

And as 2009 makes its exit, 2010 promises to be just as tumultuous. We're still facing economic uncertainty as unemployment hits new heights and consumer confidence continues to suffer. The debate over whether to have more regulation, and in what form, is dragging on with no clear resolution in sight.

Even within the corporate halls of the financial advisory industry, we've seen firms change hands and the executives at the top play musical chairs. Sallie Krawcheck, once at the helm at Citi's Smith Barney now heads up Merrill Lynch, which was bought by Bank of America. Smith Barney has joined up with Morgan Stanley. And, Robert McCann, formerly in the top spot at Merrill, finally landed at UBS to lead its U.S. wealth management unit, now that his non-compete clause dispute with his former employer has been settled.

Meanwhile, the financial markets have started to claw their way back up from the frightening last quarter of 2008. Indeed, economists have declared that the recovery has arrived.

The stars of our Top 40 Under 40 have dug in to share in the recovery. In fact, nearly every one of these young advisors our writers spoke to said they increased their contact with their clients, whether those customers had hit the panic bottom or not. "We were so completely consumed with putting our arms around our clients" that there was no time for self-pity, said one advisor.

Self-pity would have been self-defeating. And, the advisors who made our list were those who took action in the face of plummeting valuations of both corporate and personal wealth. So fast forward to the profiles of our "Top 40 Advisors Under 40" beginning on page 26, to find out how they took advantage of these tough times to the benefit of grateful clients.

Also in this issue, Mark Astarita discusses the differences between using the fiduciary standard as opposed to one based on suitability in "Brokers As Fiduciaries—Much Ado About Nothing" in our By The Rules column on page 22. Astarita, a securities lawyer, lays the problem at the feet of the financial services companies. He asks an interesting question: Are we making too much of a big deal about fighting over a single standard, that for all intents and purposes, is already in place?

The final word of the year comes from Bill Morrissey of LPL Financial. On our back page, Bill chronicles his rise through the ranks in our Life Stories column on page 72. From his first job cleaning beaches at Cape Cod to his early days with Fidelity and Merrill Lynch, he dispenses what he has learned from those different and valuable experiences. And, he offers his recommendations to advisors living through these fast-changing times.

The rate of change is only going to increase and financial advisors need to be prepared, whether that change comes in the form of technology, regulation or even market events.

As 2009 comes to a close, we at On Wall Street hope that our publication's coverage has helped you deal with the many changes that took place this year and promise to take place in 2010.