Wealth management

Global exchange-traded fund assets surged by 6.7% in the first quarter, to $1.399 trillion, with investors pouring a net $41.4 billion into ETFs — more than double their investments in the first quarter of 2010, BlackRock Inc. said.

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The popularity of hedge funds, particularly among institutional investors, propelled total assets under management to a record $2 trillion in the first quarter, according to a report from Hedge Fund Research Inc. of Chicago.

It looks like young investors may have been paying attention as the market crash threw baby boomers' futures into disarray.

More money than ever is flowing to mutual funds that buy both stocks and bonds, a sign that individuals are starting to return to equities during the most volatile bull market since at least 1942.

State Street Corp. led custody banks reporting higher fee income in the first quarter as acquisitions and the stock market rally boosted assets.

A decade after its launch, Bank of America Merrill Lynch's 401(k) platform for small businesses is approaching 1 million participants — and it's expanding beyond its signature 401(k) focus.

A court in Italy acquitted Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp. and bankers at the companies in a market-abuse case relating to the 2003 collapse of Parmalat Finanziaria SpA, Italy's biggest dairy company.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney hired Jeff Hack from JPMorgan Chase & Co. as its chief operating officer, one of several organizational changes announced by the firm's new president, Gregory Fleming.

KeyBanc Capital Markets doubled its personnel last month by hiring four professionals from Chapdelaine Credit Partners, a bond broker that closed in January.

Morgan Stanley's James Gorman received a $14 million compensation package for his first year as chief executive, less than the $15 million he was awarded for 2009, as the company missed profit goals.

Certified financial planners are uniquely qualified to help Americans keep their finances in good stead, the CFP Board of Standards said. The group has just rolled out a glossy $36 million advertising campaign to make them aware of that.

Charles Schwab Corp. announced Friday its net income and revenue soared in the first quarter, as the economy improved and investors moved off the sidelines.

March was the third month in a row that retail investors were net buyers of individual municipal bonds, and it also was the fifth consecutive month that mom-and-pop investors sold more shares of muni mutual funds than they purchased, according to the March transparency report published by BondDesk Group LLC.

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Integra Bank Corp. of Evansville, Ind., said Tuesday that it has agreed to sell its wealth management arm to Old National Bancorp.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is scheduled to complete its rulemaking on midsize advisers and advisers under the private adviser exemption by July 21, but investment advisers' deadlines may be extended until 2012.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined UBS Financial Services $2.5 million and ordered it to pay $8.25 million in restitution for conduct related to the sale of Lehman Brothers Holdings principal protection notes.

The stunning decline in property values across most of the country, a prolonged recession and plain-old negligence and shortsightedness on the part of American workers have combined to make retirement more a fantasy than a reality for tens of millions of baby boomers.

As the economy begins to pick up and as the Federal Reserve hints at a possible interest rate rise, investors are following their historical pattern and losing interest in classic certificates of deposit.