Matt Ackermann

Morgan Stanley Private Wealth Management hired Mauricio Sanchez as executive director and head of Latin America operations in Geneva.

The SPDR VRDO Municipal Bond ETF, which began trading Thursday on the NYSE Arca Exchange, has an annual expense ratio of 0.20%.

Sun Life Financial Inc. of Toronto said Colm Freyne, its acting chief financial officer since July 1, now has the title outright.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management announced Wednesday that it hired Doris Meisteras as regional president for the New York area.

Fidelity Investments of Boston has launched a Canadian clearing business, but it will have its work cut out to gather share in a market dominated by three players.

Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch Research announced that it has hired Michael Hanson as a senior U.S. economist.

Putnam Investments has launched a suite of target-date funds that integrate target absolute return strategies with traditional mutual funds.

Prudential Annuities, the U.S. annuity business of Prudential Financial Inc., has hired Tim Seifert as a vice president and director of national sales.

The fund tracks the performance of the Wells Fargo Hybrid and Preferred Securities Aggregate Index, which includes nonconvertible preferred securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange or the NYSE Arca that have a par amount of $25; are rated investment grade by Moody's Investors Service Inc. or Standard & Poor's; and have had a minimum monthly trading volume during each of the past six months of at least 250,000 trading units.

The U.S. division of Sun Life Financial Inc. of Toronto has hired Sean Woodroffe as head of human resources for the U.S. business.

New York Life Insurance Co. announced it has appointed Paul Pasteris to its executive management committee.

The struggles of U.S. banking companies are providing Harris Private Bank of Chicago with an opportunity to expand its wealth management operations.

Harris Private Bank in Chicago, a Bank of Montreal unit, announced Monday it acquired Stoker Ostler Wealth Advisors in Phoenix.

Shutterly, the Louisville company's director of investments said the platform generated $20 million of assets under management in its first year — more than twice what he expected it would when it was launched in October 2008.

When Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. sold two more wealth units last week, management painted the transactions as prudent moves to firm up capital.

TD Ameritrade Institutional, a unit of TD Ameritrade Holding Corp., announced Thursday it had introduced a Business Evaluator tool to help advisers join or start a registered investment advisory firm.

Far from any population center, Michael Jandreau, the chairman of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, knew even an enormous casino couldn't generate enough revenue for the South Dakota tribe. So he did the next best thing: he bought a wealth management company, Westrock Group Inc. in New York.

Raymond James Financial Inc. will continue aggressively recruiting financial advisers to keep its assets above water, the chief operating officer of its private client group said.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. announced Monday that it has partnered with Microsoft Corp. to provide project fund administration, tracking and reporting to aid state and local governments with their requirements related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s treasury services business, which provides cash management, trade finance and treasury products and services, announced Monday that it plans to continue to expand its service capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region.