Wealth management

Build America Bonds from California, the biggest issuer of the taxable debt in 2010, outperformed the market in the past six weeks as the state's 7.25% yield lured investors unfazed by the lowest state credit rating.

DWS Investments, the mutual fund family owned by Deutsche Bank AG that is the successor to two storied U.S. fund firms, has had a turbulent history. But its executives say the business, built with acquisitions including the former Scudder Kemper Investments, is on course to notch its first year of positive net flows in several years. A big reason, the executives say, is an expansion and upgrade of its intermediary distribution force.

Investors who forget what they paid for shares of stock will get help starting in 2011, courtesy of the Internal Revenue Service.

A pension fund for Ohio school employees has sued Wachovia Corp. and the company that now owns it, Wells Fargo & Co., over losses the fund sustained from investing in Wachovia's securities lending program.

Raymond James Financial Inc. said Wednesday that it has agreed to acquire Howe Barnes Hoefer & Arnett Inc. The deal would combine two well-known regional investment banks.

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American International Group Inc., the company repaying a $182.3 billion government rescue, led the U.S. insurance industry to its best year since 2003 as investments strengthened.

MFS Investment Management has historically been best known for its equity funds — but it's the firm's Municipal High-Income Fund that stands out as a gem of consistency.

Rollovers into traditional IRAs occur evenly across all age groups and play a significant role in the growth of IRA assets, according to new research.

With 2011 tax-rate decisions delayed by Washington brinkmanship, financial advisers spent most of 2010 unable to answer key questions from their wealthy clients.

Goldman Sachs Group's Petershill Fund agreed to buy a minority stake in Mount Lucas Management, a global macro hedge fund manager with $1.8 billion under management.

The extension of current income tax rates gives wealthy taxpayers the equivalent of an interest-free loan if they convert a regular individual retirement account to a Roth by Dec. 31.

The opportunity for smaller banks to position their wealth management businesses as alternatives to those of big, wounded banks and brokerage houses is quickly disappearing.

JPMorgan Chase and a U.S. unit of the French bank Natixis are each offering money market mutual funds aimed at wooing back customers spooked by the financial crisis.

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Bank of America's private wealth management business U.S. Trust has capped its 2010 national wealth management team expansion with the addition of five new advisers.

A survey by TD Ameritrade shows that independent registered investment advisers are worried about the time and money associated with pending regulatory changes.

Assets in U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds and exchange-traded products surpassed $1 trillion for the first time, reaching $1.027 trillion on Dec. 16, BlackRock said.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. held onto its lead in global investment banking revenue in 2010, followed by Bank of America Corp. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., according to preliminary yearend data released Tuesday by Dealogic.

Morningstar has added a new credit research module to its portal for advisers and other investment professionals, the Morningstar Analyst Research Center.