Wealth management

By consolidating its insurance, wealth and investment units, Bank of the West of San Francisco increased the rate of referrals from bankers in the past year.

Legg Mason Inc. has launched an exchange offer for up to 95% of its equity units in the form of corporate units, in order to increase its equity capital levels and lower debt and interest expenses.

Armed with additional capital and operating under an interim chief executive, Janus Capital Group Inc. has a long climb ahead for a recovery.

A decline in world equity markets has forced investors to sale back their risk taking and return to recession-proof stocks, according to Merrill Lynch's monthly survey of fund managers.

For anyone in a rush to snap up wealth management firms, or who thinks Wilmington Trust Corp. is poised for a buying spree, Ted T. Cecala says think again.

Working with elderly clients can be challenging, but by networking with the right contacts and involving clients' heirs, some bank advisers are developing a lucrative and self-feeding business.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. of Chicago announced it enhanced its unified managed account platform to let advisers build customized UMA's from more than 1,200 investment products.

BlackRock Inc. will get at least $71 million in the first year of contracts to oversee assets previously owned by Bear Stearns Cos. and American International Group Inc.

More investment managers expect corporate earnings to increase in the next three months, and a majority expect global gross domestic product growth to accelerate in the next six months, according to a survey conducted by Northern Trust Global Advisors.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. said Monday that it has renamed the UBS U.S. Large Cap Growth Fund the Laudus Growth Investors U.S. Large Cap Growth Fund.

MainStay Investments, New York Life Insurance Co.'s proprietary fund unit, is actively embracing banks for the first time, but in way that minimizes costs in uncertain times.

Mirroring the mixed performance by equities, the Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index rose 0.5% in June, while HedgeFund.net reported a 0.4% increase.

Eastern Investment Advisors, a unit of Eastern Bank of Boston, announced Monday it is launching a managed account platform developed by FundQuest.

Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management, a unit of Bank of America Corp., has recruited a team of financial advisers from UBS AG.

First Tennessee Bank's investment advisers and clients are only slowly warming up to its fee-based registered investment advisory platform.

Assets held in exchange-traded funds have increased this year, and executives expect a surge when more products are introduced this fall — if markets are ready for them.

Aladdin Capital Holdings of Stamford, Conn., announced it has hired Merrill Lynch & Co.'s head of emerging markets syndicate, Carlyle Peake.

Active traders expect markets to rebound, despite the recent volatility, according to a survey by Charles Schwab Corp.