Wealth management

Eighteen months ago, Heather Oliver turned her back on Morgan Stanley to become a Primevest representative at the $6 billion-asset BankAtlantic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Despite the recession, smaller clients and less-sophisticated products, her business is thriving.

Bank of America Corp.'s Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley Smith Barney were nearly even last month in the race for recruiting brokers, according to the research firm Discovery Database.

The addition of nonmanaged assets to a unified managed account could be the next step in the product's evolution, but some industry providers are skeptical whether the interest in stock-picking right now is enough for this enhancement to take off.

Deutsche Bank said the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish Fund has run out of new shares and would have to cease issuance until it gets clearance from the SEC.

Primerica Financial Services, the life insurance business that Citigroup Inc. plans to sell in an initial public offering, may have a starting value of $1.6 billion, according to an analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton Cochran Caronia Waller.

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

Confidence among millionaire investors fell in October, according to Spectrem Group.

Despite the financial services industry's downsizing, New York Life Investments is building up a sales force to target the defined contribution market.

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Though some banking companies have soured on Florida because of its severe economic problems, BB&T Corp. is expanding its insurance operations in the Sunshine State.

The movement of financial advisers from major brokerages has continued to decline, falling for the third straight month in October, according to data from the research firm Discovery Database.

Wilmington Trust Corp. of Delaware has hired Linda L. Bourn as a managing director in its wealth advisory services business to serve ultra-high-net-worth and family office clients.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. has promoted Brian Ruane to the newly created position of chief executive of alternative investment services.

Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc., a unit of Wells Fargo & Co., has named Todd Wartchow senior finance officer.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch announced enhancements Wednesday to its donor-advised fund, the Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund.

A new initiative by Phoenix Cos. Inc. of Hartford, Conn., rests on the belief that financial services companies are still interested in life insurance — just in a different way.

The New York private-equity firm Lightyear Capital LLC announced Tuesday that it has signed a definitive agreement to buy the ING Advisor Network and three of its five broker-dealers.

BNY Mellon Asset Management's first foray into private equity turned heads this week because many wealth managers are shying away from the sector.

The San Francisco company said at a news conference in New York that its first four ETFs will begin trading today with four more to follow in December. The funds will have expense ratios ranging from 8 basis points to 35 points and offer commission-free online trading.