NEW YORK — Another independent broker-dealer has shut its doors, months after one of its brokers got in trouble with regulators.
IRVINE, Calif. — Wachovia Securities LLC’s whirlwind tour of brokers at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. has helped calm anxieties about the merger of the two firms, but it hasn’t kept some representatives from abandoning ship. A 40-city tour by six Wachovia executives, including Wachovia chief executive Danny Ludeman and his counterpart at A.G. Edwards, Bob Bagby, is scheduled to conclude this week.
DETROIT — Financial advisory firms that concentrate on holistic planning and leave the investment management to outside professionals are seeing the benefits in real dollar terms, according to a recent study.
PHILADELPHIA — Even though he was aware that it would violate their contracts, Gary Black, chief executive of Janus Capital Group Inc., told the company’s portfolio managers last October that they would receive pay cuts, according to a lawsuit filed last month.
IRVINE, Calif. — Critics of the industry arbitration system want the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to require that “public” arbitrators have no ties to the industry. In a rule awaiting approval at the Securities and Exchange Commission, New York- and Washington-based FINRA has proposed limiting to $50,000 a year the amount of revenue a public arbitrator could receive from brokerage firms for handling customer disputes.
NEW YORK — Chief executives are feeling more confident about expanding their companies’ reach into emerging markets, but portfolio managers are still wary of investing in the sector.
WASHINGTON — Investment opportunities in India are on the rise, as experts predict that the country’s potential lies well beyond customer call centers. Greenwich (Conn.) Advisors LLC recently created an open-end fund that will invest in 25 to 40 Indian companies in a range of industries, including software, banking, infrastructure, retail, pharmaceuticals and real estate.
NEW YORK — Workers know they need financial planning, and they are looking at their employers to guide them to sound decisions, according to a study from Ameriprise Financial Inc. in Minneapolis.
CHICAGO — Pension consultants and third-party administrators want bundled providers, including industry giants such as Vanguard and Fidelity, to disclose their revenue-sharing arrangements with affiliated service providers, but the bundled providers are balking.
Leasing often represents the alternative to making an investment in a non-financial asset. In many cases when the asset is essential, such as with a car or home, we can perform a buy-versus-lease analysis to determine which approach to take. Here I examine leasing’s strengths and weaknesses, and evaluate its uses for the car or home.
