In the months before it landed one of the biggest advisers on Wall Street, HighTower Securities LLC was already successfully recruiting other breakaway brokers.
Stocks have been in flux over the past few weeks as surprises kept coming from overseas. Greece's debt crisis, similar troubles in Portugal, and China's latest moves to slow down its economy have kept investors guessing.
A recent round-table discussion sponsored by <i>InvestmentNews</i> demonstrated that there is still a wide divide between advisory and brokerage groups over establishing a uniform fiduciary standard.
Oklahoma State University's athletic fund and Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. are embroiled in a legal flap over a failed funding plan for charitable insurance.
Investors snapping up the 10%-plus annual coupons on recent reverse convertible notes may be playing with fire, according to experts familiar with the stock-linked structured products.
The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to inspect just 9% of the 11,000 investment advisory firms that it oversees — the same percentage of firms it expects to examine this year.
The international developed markets were muted during the fourth quarter with the Russell Developed Large Cap ex-North America Index up just 2.3%.
The fourth quarter of 2009 started out on shaky ground with the domestic equity indexes falling sharply in October.
As 2009 wound to a close, it was hard not to look back at the global financial markets just 12 months ago and realize how far and how quickly the recovery had come.
The U.S., and indeed most of the global economies, faces a transition period in 2010, one that must be carefully handled.
After a relatively sleepy start to the quarter, the taxable fixed income markets went on a quick rollercoaster ride for the final 60 days of the year.
