Wealth management

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. dropped its lawsuit against seven former executives at its private wealth management division who resigned this month to join a unit of rival investment bank Credit Suisse Group AG.

IMGCAP(1)]

Cambridge Investment Research's 1,600 financial advisers are independent contractors who run their own businesses, but legislation introduced in both the House and Senate is threatening that business model.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority wants to expand the scope of its Broker Check service to better protect consumers from rogue brokers.

Fidelity Investments says it expects its retirement assets to continue growing this year as both employers and employees become more engaged with 401(k) plans.

While many financial advisers continue to seek either the comforts of a megafirm or the independence of a registered investment advisory group, Adam Sherman, David Fleisher and their team have found a cozy home in the community banking channel.

Fidelity Investments may possess the largest supermarket of mutual funds, with $3.2 trillion of assets under administration and $1.5 trillion under management — but it's no longer just about offering a wide selection of mutual funds or getting companies set up with retirement benefits programs.

Raymond James Financial Inc. continued to attract financial advisers to its private-client group at the end of last year and into January.

Charles Schwab Corp. is attracting a slew of new assets, and daily average trades are rising. New and established clients brought the company $6 billion of net new assets in January, according to its monthly market activity report.

The business model for independent brokerage firms is under threat, calling into question the livelihood of more than 178,000 registered representatives.

Horizon Bank in Austin said Tuesday that it has hired Kelli Click to run the Waco, Texas, office of a Horizon unit that helps investors roll over retirement assets into individual retirement accounts.

IMGCAP(1)]

Proposed European Union regulations have U.S. private-equity players buzzing. Most private-equity players acknowledge that if the rules to restrict the use of leverage are enacted, their own activities abroad will be crimped. They also fear that U.S. regulators may follow suit — raising a host of other concerns.

Credit Suisse Group, which emerged from the financial crisis among the world's strongest banks, swung to a fourth-quarter net profit despite a slowdown in investment banking activity late last year that undercut the solid performance of its private bank.

Charles-Henry Courtois, a specialist in tax and estate planning, has been named head of the international trust and wealth structuring business at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

In the largest deal in its 17-year history, Affiliated Managers Group Inc. is buying Pantheon Ventures from Russell Investments, a unit of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.

Bank of America Corp. said it expects significant growth in 401(k) assets this year, but where and how it will generate new business is unclear.

A Goldman Sachs Group Inc. official tried Wednesday to put to rest continued speculation that Goldman might abandon its status as a financial holding company.

Couples may be on the same life path, but this does not mean they agree on what to do with their money. In fact, they often do not — which can pose dilemmas for a wealth adviser.

MetLife Inc. may use stock to pay for more than half of the planned $15 billion purchase of an American International Group Inc. life insurance unit, said three people with knowledge of the matter.