Wealth management

Private banks and wealth managers must adapt to far higher expectations from clients and a new set of regulations. Those that can't simply won't survive, according to a global survey of senior industry executives.

"If you get at what someone's underlying values are, the right choices become more obvious," advises the president of one financial coaching firm on dealing with couples.

IMGCAP(1)]

Bank of America will hire more than 500 advisers in its Merrill Edge unit yearend, nearly doubling the count of employees that work with clients with smaller investment portfolios.

Charles Schwab Corp. says expanding its investor services unit by a few hundred new retail outlets won't raise a conflict with its own advisor custody business.

IMGCAP(1)]

Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch unit must face a group lawsuit by union and public employee retirement funds over mortgage-backed securities, a federal judge ruled.

California has picked TIAA-CREF to manage its college savings plan that has about $4 billion of assets.

Investors would rather pay commissions for the financial advice they receive than a fee based on assets under management, according to Cerulli Associates.

RBC Wealth Management, the unit of Royal Bank of Canada of Toronto that oversees almost $200 billion for more than 350,000 households, won the highest satisfaction ranking in a survey of full-service investment firms' customers, J.D. Power & Associates said.

A new wave of dot-coms is turning heads and building paper wealth for tech company workers. Unlike many who suffered in the crash of 2000, "dot-com 2.0" option holders are apt to assume they're riding a bubble — and they're looking for help to make the most of their unrealized riches.

IMGCAP(1)]

This summer, Fiserv plans to implement a solution that will move managed accounts using mutual fund advisory and exchange-traded funds on to its existing unified managed account platform.

"Follow the money" can serve as a good starting point for identifying strong-performing mutual funds, said analysts at Standard & Poor's.

Financial services leaders in the U.S. are lowering their expectations for the country's economy, according to the Business Optimism Index, a quarterly survey by Grant Thornton LLP.

IMGCAP(1)]

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. is betting that enhancements to its variable annuity suite will put it ahead of competitors in the race to offer investors secure retirement income options.

Gibraltar Private Bank and Trust in Coral Gables is squarely in growth mode. After a management-led buyout of the company from Boston Private Financial Holdings, the 22-year-old institution's asset total and employee counts have risen by respectable margins over the past two years.

Paul K. Stetter Jr. knows his clients' biggest fear is outliving their savings. Yet, the pragmatic Ephrata, Pa.-based financial advisor doesn't mince words when telling investors how much they'll need for retirement.

Moves to streamline operations follow the recent trend of leadership changes at other firms.