Bank-loan funds are the beneficiary of a bond market that has made investors leery of most fixed-income investments — particularly junk bonds. Compared with junk-bond funds — to which some consider bank-loan funds an attractive alternative — asset flows into bank-loan funds have remained strong.
The $1.2 trillion hedge fund industry, bracing for its second regulatory battle with the Securities and Exchange Commission in as many years, plans to take a more proactive approach to dealing with regulators, critics and the media.
NEW YORK — A securities law firm is seeking class action status for clients who may have been financially damaged by an insurer’s threats and commission incentives designed to skew adviser judgment in favor of proprietary products.
SAN FRANCISCO — A top bond expert made only passing mention of bonds at TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.’s 2007 annual conference in San Diego early this month.
NEW YORK — John Hancock Life Insurance Co. of Boston this month introduced a policy that guarantees cash values to a greater extent than other types of whole life insurance.
Bank of America Corp. chief executive Kenneth D. Lewis saw his stock options drop 8% to $10.8 million last year, compared with $11.7 million in 2005, according to Financial News.
A trade group for the variable annuity industry today announced a technology initiative intended to save time and money for VA distributors through streamlining and standardization.
One of the founders of Financial Network Investment Corp., the largest independent-contractor broker-dealer in the ING Advisors Network Inc., walked out the door last month and joined NFP Securities Inc., leaving some observers to wonder how many registered representatives affiliated with FNIC eventually could follow.
Joseph Moglia’s proclamation that his company is spending big money to align the TD Ameritrade brand with thoughtful investment advice drew initial applause from financial advisers listening to the Omaha, Neb.-based company’s chairman and chief executive at its Partnership 2007 conference here last week.
Baby boomers who are rich in real estate now can get cash out of their homes without taking on debt or making a payment, but at least one competitor questions whether the idea is a Faustian bargain.
The Securities and Exchange Commission continues to forge ahead in its quest to wrap some kind of regulatory lasso around the $1.2 trillion hedge fund industry. Why it is doing so isn’t entirely clear.
BOSTON — Just because the Enron Corp. and market-timing scandals have led to greater disclosure requirements doesn’t mean that some mutual fund companies aren’t still burying some doozies in their regulatory filings, according to Russel Kinnel, director of mutual fund research for Morningstar Inc.
WASHINGTON — Be careful what you wish for with regard to cost basis reporting, as it might cause a headache of colossal proportions.
Regulators are backing off their aggressive pursuit of B share cases. In the clearest indication yet that enforcers have changed their tune, the SEC late last month dropped a prominent B share case against former Prudential Securities Inc. broker Robert Ostrowski.
In an effort to prevent top brokers from bolting, wirehouses quietly are backing down from their tough stance against allowing advisers to act as fiduciaries to employee retirement plans.
When it comes to Putnam Investments, it is the performance — not the parent — that matters, financial advisers say.
WASHINGTON — As Americans feel more stressed out over the erosion of corporate benefits and the solvency of social benefits programs, such traditional economic indicators as gross domestic product growth and household income are becoming less correlated to their perception of the economy’s well-being, according to a recently released study.
Focus Financial Partners LLC, barely a year old, purchased majority stakes in three more independent fiduciary wealth management firms last week — increasing its roster of firms to nine and tripling assets under management to $15 billion.
