Wealth management

Northern Trust Corp. announced Tuesday that Steven L. Fradkin, an executive vice president and chief financial officer since 2004, has been named president of the Chicago company's corporate and institutional services unit.

Though John Murphy, a financial network rep at Union National Community Bank in Lancaster County, Pa., had been raised on modern portfolio theory and believes in the principles of asset allocation, that strategy clearly wasn't going to weather this storm.

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Japan's second-biggest banking company, said it is in talks to end a brokerage venture with Daiwa Securities Group Inc. after agreeing in May to buy $5.9 billion of assets from Citigroup Inc.

HSBC Holdings PLC has bid on ING Group NV's private banking assets, a person familiar with the situation said.

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Forward Management LLC has made several moves since the beginning of the year, which include buying a boutique investment firm and taking a stake in another small asset manager with which it plans to launch a mutual fund.

Bank of America Corp. is changing signs at its New York and London offices to reflect the acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co.

FundQuest, a Boston unit of BNP Paribas SA, expects 30% asset growth in the coming year within the unified managed accounts it provides. But Tim Clift, its chief investment officer, admits a portion of that growth is likely to come out of the traditional, separately managed accounts that FundQuest also provides.

Three firms will pay a total of $600,000 in fines to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to settle charges relating to the sale of auction-rate securities.

Credit Suisse Group AG and Julius Baer Holding AG will consider acquisitions to build their private banking units, according to executives at the Zurich banks.

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In a recent study, Olivia Mitchell, a professor of insurance and risk management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, argued that by laddering the purchase of immediate annuities — or buying annuities gradually over time while keeping the rest of a portfolio invested in a mix of equities and bonds — clients can substantially increase the likelihood of meeting their retirement income goals.

Paul Tudor Jones, the billionaire hedge fund manager who outperformed peers last year, is wagering that Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley got it wrong in declaring the start of an economic recovery.

The French bank Societe Generale said Tuesday that it is sticking to plans for an initial public offering of its U.S. asset management unit, TCW Group, in the next five years.

Akito Fund, a Japan-focused hedge fund set up by former UBS AG bankers, has returned 14% since its July start, beating benchmarks on investments in smaller companies including Geo Corp. and Yellow Hat Ltd.

Giant bond fund manager Bill Gross said the global economy is on its way to a new "normal" as delevering, deglobalization and reregulation take hold in the wake of the global financial turmoil.

Listening to Bryce Carr discuss his doubts about Emprise Bank's new advertising campaign for its wealth management services, one gets an old-school feeling about how business gets done in his market.

Mutual funds, pensions and endowments are unloading U.S. consumer stocks at the fastest pace in at least 14 years.

Third Avenue Management Inc. has launched its first debt fund, which will invest in a concentrated portfolio across the credit spectrum.

U.S. life insurance sales to individuals dropped 20% in the second quarter as savers shunned investments linked to stocks, contributing to the biggest six-month decline since 1942.