Wealth management

Continuing its move out of the financial crisis and into consolidation mode, State Street said it had agreed to buy a European fund administrator to expand its alternative servicing capabilities.

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As investors begin to regain their confidence in the market, experts offer some guidance on building a smarter portfolio. It's time to give the old rules some new twists.

Connecticut plans to join Ohio in suing credit rating companies for "negligent, reckless and incompetent work" in grading debt purchased by state pension funds, according to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

JPMorgan Chase & Co., Pacific Investment Management Co. and smaller firms are inundated with money from individuals attempting to mimic the performance of hedge funds on speculation that the stock market rally is over.

UBS AG and Ernst & Young LLP may face hundreds of damages claims if investors who lost millions of dollars in mutual funds linked to Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme win a group of Luxembourg test cases.

The number of global corporate debit issuers poised for downgrades fell to 869 in November from 890 a month earlier, according to Standard & Poor's.

For more information on this data, visit Novantas LLC and Market Rates Insight.

Putnam Investments is counting on its client servicing capabilities to help transform its defined contribution business into an industry leader, according to the head of that business.

Most 401(k) and other defined contribution plan administrators and sponsors like the automatic-enrollment feature in the retirement savings plans they manage because it gets more people saving earlier, but the fact that sign-up for these plans is automatic doesn't lessen the burden on the administrators who run them.

Morgan Stanley, preparing for a resurgence in securitized debt sales, has hired former Merrill Lynch executive David Moffitt to lead the effort within the firm's capital markets division.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will focus on financial instruments such as derivatives as it broadens a crackdown on insider trading by hedge funds, Robert Khuzami, the agency's enforcement director, said.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings-per-share estimate was raised 15% by Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst Brad Hintz, who said he expects the firm to reduce its compensation expense.

ALPS Advisors said last week that it had launched a long-short fund. The company said the fund is part of an ongoing effort to broaden its offerings for investors.

For more information on this data, visit Novantas LLC and Market Rates Insight.

New York Life Insurance Co. is changing its wholesaling model, citing distributors' desires and the opportunity to increase its sales of investment, annuity and guaranteed-income products.

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Citigroup Inc.'s private bank has hired Steve Bodurtha from Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch as head of investments for North America, as the firm continues to fill management roles.

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Two college-savings companies are borrowing a page from banks' cash-back loyalty playbook, offering customers rebates on services including refinancing mortgages or opening online bank accounts.