Wealth management

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co.'s new chief executive plans no major changes to its growth strategy, except for the modifications that real life thrusts upon it.

The investment banks at JPMorgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley slashed compensation in the fourth quarter, responding to political pressure that will probably persist as details of bonuses for their top executives emerge in coming weeks.

Evercore Wealth Management announced Monday it had agreed to buy Morse, Williams and Co. Inc.

Bank adviser productivity hit its lowest level of the year in November, but things may be looking up.

The stock market's steep decline in 2008, combined with one of the worst recessions in decades, resulted in fewer mergers and acquisitions among registered investment advisory firms last year, according to the latest data from Charles Schwab Corp.

Bank of America plans to spend $15 million to $20 million on a campaign targeting retirees. The four-month "help2retire" campaign, which kicked off Monday, will include ...

A decline in the number of investors using 401(k) plans, increasing unemployment and an aging population have knocked Fidelity Investments from its slot as the No. 1 mutual fund provider and distributor.

The recession has been a wake-up call for the well-to-do, many of whom came to realize that great responsibility should accompany great wealth, according to research by PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

After much speculation, Fidelity Investments announced that its president, Rodger A. Lawson, will retire at the end of the quarter after two-and-a-half years in the job.

Legg Mason Inc. said Thursday that profit rose from a year earlier in its fiscal third quarter, which ended Dec. 31, but declined slightly from the previous quarter as assets fell.

After a wild 2009 the movement of financial advisers from wire houses to independent channels is "stabilizing," Raymond James Financial Inc.'s top executive said Thursday.

With investors returning slowly but surely to the markets, assets rose in the fourth quarter at three prominent financial firms that manage wealth.

As it waits for the fee income that will come once interest rates rise, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. will continue to try and control costs and focus on expanding its asset management and asset servicing businesses overseas.

Speculation grew Tuesday that MetLife is negotiating to buy American International Group Inc.'s American Life Insurance Co.

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TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.'s top executive said Tuesday that the company's trading activity has improved this month as investors "reengaged in the market."

Like manufacturers seeking multiple distribution avenues, many life insurance companies have been looking for further sales channels. The bank channel, for one, has been gaining traction.

Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Donald Kohn will be among the speakers Jan. 29 at a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. conference on interest rate risk.

Twenty-eight law firms, financial advisers, investment banks and consulting firms working to unwind Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in bankruptcy racked up $568.7 million in fees through December.

A Morningstar report has confirmed that investors put a priority on averting risk during 2009.