Howard Stock

Conflicting numbers from the Phoenix Marketing International bimonthly survey of affluent and high-net-worth investors suggest that while respondents are gloomier than usual about the economy's prospects, they're also investing more in the market than they were.

BlackRock, John Hancock Mutual Funds and Fidelity Investments topped Kasina's list this year of best websites for advisers.

Banks' sales of variable annuities struggled in July along with the stock market, falling to $1.2 billion from $1.4 billion in June, according to the Kehrer-Jackson Monthly Annuity Sales Survey, released late last month. Fixed annuities held their ground at $1.5 billion in sales, but wobbly VA sales brought total annuity sales at banks down by 7%.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is proposing all-public arbitration panels in a rule it is filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission next month, following a two-year pilot program.

Brokerage firms continue to talk a good game when it comes to social media, but few are actually doing anything about it, and that may turn out to be a mistake.

Banks may be on pace for a record year in sales of life insurance, according to Kehrer-Limra's latest Bank Life Report.

At 91%, the overwhelming majority of retail investors support a fiduciary standard for all financial advisers, according to a survey of 1,319 investors by Infogroup/ORC.

Income in retirement is becoming an issue politicians on both sides of the aisle can't afford to ignore, according to a survey by Lake Research Partners and Public Opinion Strategies.

Most American households are confident that their post-crash austerity is paying off, according to a survey by the public relations firm Weber Shandwick and KRC Research.

Fixed-income funds held their siren-like draw for investors, contributing largely to long-term mutual funds' $16.8 billion in inflows in August, according to a Morningstar analysis.

Boston Private Financial Holdings, a national umbrella company providing private banking and wealth management services through affiliates, has promoted Mark Thompson to be CEO of its private banking group.

Bank brokerage had a terrible 2009 as investment revenue per $1 million in retail deposits fell 12%, according to Kehrer-Limra, which now has full data for last year.

Retirement plan participants are calming down, according to a Massachusetts Mutual analysis of its plans.

Despite low rates, bank sales of annuities held steady in June, at $2.8 billion, the Kehrer-Limra consulting firm says.

An internecine battle has broken out on Capitol Hill over how the Securities and Exchange Commission should enforce a blanket fiduciary standard for all financial advisers.

Sales of fixed annuities through all channels totaled $19.4 billion in the second quarter, a jump of 18% from the first quarter, according to a report by Beacon Research, which tracks fixed annuity sales.

When Grail Advisors officially closes two of its active exchange-traded funds — Technology and RP Financials — before the market bell on Aug. 30, the total universe of active ETFs will fall to just 28.

Bank representatives' productivity rose by a little less than 13% in June, to $25,361 in combined fees and commissions, up from $22,485 in May, according to the Bank Insurance and Securities Association's Monthly Productivity Report.

Hedge funds started making money again in July, with the Morningstar 1000 Hedge Fund Index up 2.7% over the previous month. The index was up 0.35% year to date, Morningstar said.

Only a third of advisers have a marketing plan and only a third of that group actively implements it, according to Quantuvis, a Redlands, Calif., practice-management consulting firm owned by Genworth.