Wealth management

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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.

State Street Corp., known for its passive asset management, may soon expand its small active management business. The Boston company is in talks to buy the asset management unit of Bank of Ireland, according to Bloomberg News.

Robert Diamond, the architect of Barclays PLC's investment banking expansion, was appointed the bank's chief executive and pledged to boost its consumer unit.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp., the biggest custodian of other firms' assets, is planning what it says is the first online market in Europe to make it easier to trade hard-to-value asset-backed securities.

The Treasury Department said it intends to sell warrants in Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Lincoln National Corp. that it got as part of a bailout of the two insurers.

Limra is partnering with Smarsh, a provider of secure e-mail archiving solutions compliant with Finra and Securities and Exchange Commission standards, to provide these services to its members.

Driven by the emerging markets of Asia, the global retirement market is slated to expand to $46 trillion from $28 trillion by 2020, according to a report by Allianz.

Ridgemont Equity Partners, a Charlotte financial sponsor, has been an active buyer this summer of companies worth $10 million to $100 million, and it has plenty of company.

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

The unit investment trust has quietly blossomed into the dominant investing vehicle for Build America Bonds, the taxable municipal debt created under last year's stimulus legislation.

The staunchest opposition to a universal fiduciary standard that would put clients' interests first isn't from securities brokers, it's from insurance agents.

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

Scout Investment Advisors, a Kansas City, Mo., unit of UMB Financial Corp., announced Thursday that it had signed a definitive agreement to buy Reams Asset Management Co. of Columbus, Ind. The deal would more than double its assets under management.

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Adviser confidence in the economy and stock market sunk in August to its lowest level in 16 months, according to the Advisor Confidence Index from Rydex/SGI.

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.

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Fidelity Investments said Tuesday that it has enhanced WealthCentral, its custodial platform for registered investment advisers.

A bill before Congress that would increase worker retirement savings would be a burden to small employers, according to a report from Aite Group.