Wealth management

UnionBanCal Corp., a San Francisco unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., has announced the promotion of Rex Ramsey to vice president and senior wealth adviser in its private bank.

The investment community is hopeful that with a little tweaking, target-date funds could be the ideal solution for getting apathetic investors into an age-appropriate asset allocation.

American International Group Inc. announced Thursday that Edward M. Liddy, its chairman and chief executive officer, will step down when the board of directors finds a successor.

Robert W. Baird & Co. of Milwaukee has added 19 financial advisers and opened three new wealth management offices.

Assets held in 529 college savings plans fell 3% in the first quarter compared with the previous quarter and 22% from a year earlier, to $85.9 billion, according to data collected by Financial Research Corp. for the College Savings Foundation.

NuWave Investment Management LLC, an alternative investment manager based in Chappaqua, N.Y.,, has hired Craig Weynand as managing director of business operations.

The online investment firm Scottrade Inc. of St. Louis said it is opening a branch in San Jose next week.

The Credit Suisse/Tremont Hedge Fund Index rose 1.68% in April.

Citigroup Inc. has launched a suite of hedge fund middle-office services.

MetLife Inc. said Monday that it has hired Peter M. Carlson as its chief accounting officer.

Armed with an East Coast operation after its acquisition of Wachovia Corp., Wells Fargo & Co.'s wealth management division says it plans to use an integrated distribution model nationally to increase assets under management and market share.

Allstate Corp. said Tuesday that it will not participate in the Treasury Department's Troubled Asset Relief Program, becoming the second life insurer to back away from aid days after six were given preliminary approval.

State Street Corp. announced plans to sell more than $1 billion of stock and notes, cut its full-year earnings forecast and recorded $3.7 billion of full-year losses from asset-backed commercial paper conduits.

Putnam Investments said Monday that it has launched two mutual funds that invest in leveraged companies.

The U.S. retirement market has over $24 trillion of assets and generates $183 billion of annual revenue for financial services firms, according to Novarica, the research division of Novantas LLC.

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

Armed with two years of strong results, Northern Trust Corp. is looking to add more emerging minority or women-owned broker-dealers to use as preferred-equity trading partners at Northern Trust Global Investments.

The recent improvement in the equity markets has been good news for asset management companies that are buffeted by the economy's downturn, but in the view of some investment analysts it is too soon to become optimistic.

ING Group NV has announced that Michael Smith would join the company today as chief financial officer and chief insurance risk officer for its U.S. annuity business.