Wealth management

The Securities and Exchange Commission's civil lawsuit accusing Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of securities fraud could strengthen the argument to establish a universal fiduciary standard, according to legal experts.

Morgan Stanley's first-quarter earnings were driven by a big jump in fixed-income trading that helped to boost its overall results above Wall Street's projections.

With leverage no longer considered a sure thing to generate returns, private-equity investors now have to focus on growth.

If it means working longer, affluent investors are prepared to do so to alleviate their concerns about retirement savings and the rising costs of health care.

Northern Trust Corp.'s first-quarter profit fell 3% on higher expenses. Revenue edged higher amid still-low interest rates.

Bank of America Corp. global wealth and investment management will slow its focus on expanding its brokerage force and instead turn its attention toward investing in new technology and training novice brokers, the wire house's president, Sallie Krawcheck, said Tuesday.

Charles Schwab Corp. said it has agreed to pay $200 million to settle a federal class action related to its YieldPlus ultra-short bond fund.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. may be facing a political and legal storm over its business practices, but its first-quarter results continued a pattern of trouncing even optimistic expectations.

The country's two largest custody banks said they will keep looking for acquisitions, of whatever size, as they wait for higher interest rates to spur organic growth.

Charles Schwab Corp. said it has agreed to pay $200 million to settle a federal class-action lawsuit related to its YieldPlus ultra-short bond fund.

The business-development company American Capital Ltd., which continues to restructure its debt, is getting a helping hand from the hedge fund Paulson & Co.

Bernie Madoff's legacy is still influencing the regulatory community. Fraud is as much a part of Wall Street's history as the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, but the Securities and Exchange Commission's recent amendments to its custody rule are intended to make life trickier for any future Madoff.

As the recovery takes hold, the nonprofit world may be seeing glimmers of hope in the contributions into the Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, says Sarah C. Libbey, its president.

The Financial Services Authority is finally cracking down on how prime brokers protect client assets.

Fortress Investment Group LLC fund-raiser David Cody is leaving after helping create the firm's hybrid fund business, according to two people with direct knowledge of the move.

As customers continue to move online, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. has decided to close nine wealth management branches that have been hit particularly hard by a lack of foot traffic.

Mutual funds attracted $47.5 billion in net inflows in March, mostly into bond funds, a trend that has endured for 27 straight months, according to a Morningstar analysis.

It's a vast gap between these two groups, especially when it comes to what each thinks are the risks in retirement, Iqbal, Limra International Inc.'s associate management director of retirement research, said at the group's retirement industry conference last week.

Bruce Karpati and Robert Kaplan, the co-chiefs of a Securities and Exchange Commission task force targeting hedge funds, buyout firms and mutual funds, are seeking to add five fund managers, chief operating officers or people with "direct exposure to trading and operations" at investment firms. The SEC placed its help wanted ad last month.

In line with its own worst-case-scenario forecast, Charles Schwab Corp. reported a significant decline in first-quarter earnings due in part to a 19% decline in trading revenue.